Researchers from three universities and the US Army Research Laboratory have created a machine learning algorithm that can accurately detect code written by different programmers, even if the code has been compiled into an executable binary.
Previously, the same researchers managed to put together a similar algorithm that would identify different programmers based on their coding style (code stylometry).
This research continues their
previous work and expands the algorithm to support cases where the source code isn't accessible, and has been compiled into an executable binary.
De-anonymizing programmers may halt the creation of controversial software.
By providing a proof-of-concept in their paper, the researchers are sounding the alarm on situations where programmers may not want to associate their name with controversial software.
