Protecting Android Application Resources with Runtime Resource Overlay

In this talk, we will discuss a little-known but powerful mechanism in the Android operating system — Runtime Resource Overlay (RRO). This feature allows an application to modify its own resources, as well as those of other applications, dynamically at runtime, without the need for recompilation.

RRO offers significant potential for protecting application resources. For example, data can be stored in encrypted form and decrypted only at runtime using resource overlays. This kind of dynamic resource substitution makes reverse engineering of mobile apps considerably more difficult.

The talk will also demonstrate several Android OS vulnerabilities and undocumented behaviors that can be used to restrict app installation on specific devices and to silently uninstall applications without user interaction.

This session will be especially valuable for Android developers, mobile OS security researchers, and anyone interested in advanced techniques for protecting mobile applications and operating systems.