What is the Binary Analysis Tool?

BAT is a modular framework that assists compliance and due diligence activities by using the same type of approach applied by gpl-violations.org to discover issues in consumer electronics.

Why is the Binary Analysis Tool useful?

Binary code can contain unexpected components. These may have been accidentally included during the development process or they may have been purposefully included but improperly documented. BAT can help isolate these issues.

Why does the Binary Analysis Tool look for some issues and not others?

BAT is intended to to simplify and improve the process of checking for common problems.

Is the Binary Analysis Tool a compliance tool?

BAT can assist with compliance and due diligence.

Is the Binary Analysis Tool a reverse engineering tool?

BAT is not based on decompilation or disassembling technologies that might be considered illegal in certain jurisdictions. Instead, it uses symbol table comparisons and string table comparisons. This technique falls in the catalogue of allowed methods of software analysis as determined in Article 5 of the Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Community.

Is the Binary Analysis Tool intended to make it easier to sue people?

BAT is designed to make it easier to identify and correct potential issues before they become a problem. It can also assist in isolating and correcting an issue in a deployed product when a problem is reported.

Is the Binary Analysis Tool a community or a commercial tool?

BAT is a Free Software project that everyone can use.

Who is behind this tool?

BAT has been developed by Loohuis Consulting and Opendawn. The process was initially funded by NLnet Foundation. Further sponsorship has been provided by Linux Foundation.

Why are you releasing this tool?

Everyone will benefit from shared platforms for compliance. Releasing BAT as a Free Software project is an investment in the growth of the digital economy.

How can people participate in future development?

They can visit the contribute page to get started.

How can people contact the development team?

They can use our contact page.

Do you have mailing lists for news, users and developers?

* The announcement list is at http://www.binaryanalysis.org/mailman/listinfo/bat-announce
* The user discussion list is at http://www.binaryanalysis.org/mailman/listinfo/bat-users
* The development list is at http://www.binaryanalysis.org/mailman/listinfo/bat-devel

Is commercial support available for the tool?

Loohuis Consulting offers training, integration and further development services around the tool. Opendawn offers process development services. Third parties may also offer services around the tool.

Why do you use the Apache license?

We selected the Apache license because it fit well with our dependencies and allowed the maximum amount of commercial and non-commercial stakeholders to use the tool.