Can it be legal? Yes and it is beneficial

Reverse Engineering is a rather mysterious practice and it used to be considered as something illegal. A the same time Reverse Engineering is actually a very strong business approach that can be absolutely legal and beneficial when it is performed by professionals.

To learn more about legal use of Reverse Engineering in IT business download Reverse Engineering Business Guide (PDF, 148 KB)

First of all we should clarify the definition of this notion.

Reverse Engineering (RE) is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object or system through analysis of its structure, function and operation. It often involves taking something (e.g. a mechanical device, electronic component, or software program) apart and analyzing its workings in detail, used in maintenance or to try to make a new device or program that does the same thing without copying anything from the original. © Wikipedia.

In the United States and many other countries, even if an artifact or process is protected by trade secrets, reverse engineering the artifact or process is often lawful as long as it is obtained legitimately. Patents, on the other hand, need a public disclosure of an invention, and therefore patented items do not necessarily have to be reverse engineered to be studied. One common motivation of reverse engineers is to determine whether a competitor's product contains patent infringements or copyright infringements.

More than 6 years ago, Apriorit established Reverse Engineering Group for separate professional work on projects that needed deep research. At the moment this Group is a part of Research Department and consists of experienced reversers with well-equipped research lab.

Below, there is the list of some tasks, which RE would be good for:

• Improved third-party software and firmware compatibility; undocumented features support; undocumented problems avoiding;
• Easy support and patching of projects with disordered, bad code;
• Unfair competition exposure;
• Quick product adoption for the new systems and platforms.

For years, our researchers have been formulating and improving the knowledge base of methods, approaches, typical investigation schemes and tips. Inner system of tutorship and self-education make Research Department strong and independent part of our company, providing our customers with absolutely unique services.

Learn more about our Research Services.