An Architecture for Source Code Protection

An Architecture for Source Code Protection Abstract—Due to great competition in software industry the source code and binaries have to be protected. Source code available in plain form could be easily stolen and launched on any computer using IDE. We will discuss a protocol that will be used in both (single user and teaming environment) in order to provide source code protection. This would be achieved though authentication, authorization, encryption/decryption and hashing. Keywords—Encryption; Authentication; Authorization; Hashing; Source code SC; Binaries; Integrated development environment (IDE); Authentication server Ticket Granting Server (ATGS) INTRODUCTION In software industry, the most important asset of the industry is the source code of the software which is being developed. There is a lot of work that has been done in the secure communication, secure databases, and other security services in applications but the source code itself is not being protected which might result in a great financial and data loss for an organization. Due to great competition in software Industry Company coming up with new and unique ideas and launches it in the market will in return generate great revenue. So in software industry it’s just about the idea that matters. Most of the software companies don’t leak out their upcoming products until they are ready to be released in the market. Due to the importance of the idea and source code, source code theft is the biggest threat in software industry. Source code theft could be physical or via some botnet. In physical source code theft a person might get access to your system and copies the source files and takes it to his own system to recompile with the IDE. He got access to all of your work without any difficulty. The other case could be a Lab environment where many users have access to a common machine. In this situation any person logging on the system can view history in the IDE he could also access those source files if they are made available. In the second type where your competitors know the importance of your system might launch a botnet on your machine. In this ways all your important files (including source files etc) could be stolen and sent to a remote machine. The person getting access to these source files might get a great benefit from it. Our work is to encrypt these source files and binaries generated by the IDE using cryptographic technique. Because if we don’t protect the binaries, the binary could be reversed engineered to extract source code using some decompiler [1]. JAD could be used to launch a reverse engineering attack on binaries [2]. Some software’s are available in the market that encrypts your files (including source files etc) but these files have to be encrypted manually every time. Due to this extra effort people just skip it. In our model source files and binaries would be automatically encrypted whenever the user performs the Save, Save As and Execute operation. In this way the developer could pay his full attention on software development without caring about its protection. Our technique will provide confidentiality to source code and binaries, tempering of source code and idea leaking. RELATED WORK The idea of protecting source code and its binaries was influenced from some of its related work Guy-Armand Yandji, Lui Lian Hao, Amir-Eddine Youssouf, Jules Ehoussou [3] presented a model for normal file encryption and decryption. The paper describes a methodology using AES and MD5 for encrypting files. The outcome file that will as a result be hashed and strongly encrypted through the software. Xiufeng Zhang and Qiaoyan Wen [4] described the flexibility of Java language, which makes the protection become very difficult. Using decompiler [5] such as Jad we can easily extract the source code from the binary file. Therefore, any malicious users can use the anti-compiler tools to make reverse-engineering attacks. The paper presented an AOP-Based J2EE Source Code Protection technique in they gave solution to the problem that arises when encrypting J2EE applications. ByungRae Cha [6] presented a CRYPTEX model for protecting software source code. The model presented safe protection and access control of software source codes. The access control to the source code was achieved using digital certificate. The CRYPTEX consisted of software source codes and an algorithm to control access. A White Paper sponsored by CA Technologies [7] for Protecting API’s against attack and hijack presented a secure API architecture. APIs are windows into applications and as with any window an API can easily be misused. APIs put applications under the hacker mi croscope and increase attack surface on client application. So a solution was presented using SecureSpan API proxy. SVN [8] and CVS [9] are used to control versions. A version control system keeps track of all work and all changes in a set of files, and allows several developers to access them. Access to these files is controls using authentication and authorization if the files are not open source. Subversion can operate on network which will allow various people to modify and manage the same set of data. RISK FACTORS Source code is the main asset of any product, if somehow the source code is compromised the whole product get compromised. It should be necessary to become aware of the threats that are caused when source code or the binaries are compromised: Source code can be used to steal the idea behind that product and can be used to make a similar product. Source code can give attackers information about the working of your application and it will also provide him the loopholes in your application which would help him to launch attacks. Binary files can be revered engineered to generate source files using a decompiler and possible attacks could be launched by those source files. By having the source code or binaries the attacker can add some unwanted feature to that product and make that malicious product available to the public Bypass license checks (patching) in your product and make a free copy available to public. MANUALLY ENCRYPTING AND DECRYPTING You can encrypt and decrypt the source files and binaries manually using some software but in our approach the source files and binaries would be encrypted and decrypted automatically without any extra effort. Time Consuming Because we have to do encryption and decryption manually with the help of some software so existing approach might be more time consuming then ours. Purchase of extra Software We might need to purchase extra software in order to perform this encryption and decryption of source files and binaries. In our approach no extra software is required to perform this task. This would be a feature inside the IDE. More Secure Our approach is more secure than the existing one because the developer might forget to do this operation and leave the source files and binaries unencrypted. While in our approach whenever you exit the IDE the source files and binaries would be encrypted before closing IDE. In our approach developer won’t need to care about the protection of source files and binaries these would be secured automatically at backend. SOURCE CODE PROTECTION ENVIRONMENTS Our focus is on two types of source code protection environments Single User Environment Teaming Environment Single User Envirnoment In a single user environment a single user using IDE on his system would face all the challenges to the source code that we have discussed above. The Source code is stored on the local drive onto the system in plain form. Anyone getting access to that drive can misuse the source code. We have to protect this source code by providing some kind of security measures. Proposed Solution First the user will be authenticated. So when the user launches the IDE a login screen will appear he would enter his username and password if his logging for the first time he has to get registered and the hash of the password would be taken and stored with username at some secure place (i.e. database ). If his already registered the entered password has to be hashed and is compared with the hash that is already stored with a particular username. Now if the both hash match then the user would be logged in to the IDE with a particular ID as shown in figure 1. If there is some kind of error the user would be asked to re-enter again, Skip and run IDE normally or exit. Fig. 1. Authentication sequence diagram Our main emphasis would be on Save, Save As, Open and execute operations because these operations require security enforcement. Say the user tries to open an existing

Society Is Corrupt And Wisdom And Goodness

>Immediately the audience learns that despite it being against their fathers will, and despite Orlando being deserving of it, Oliver deprives him of his right to be a gentleman â€Å"mines my gentility with my education† to the extent that even Oliver's â€Å"horses are bred better. This comparison reveals the brutality of his brother, who lives in an urban-town setting, thus highlighting his greed for power along with the depth Of the anger and new he feels towards Orlando.Shakespeare has entwined three of the deadly sins: greed, anger and envy in his play, primarily in the first act, not only because the deadly sins are conventionally used in dramatic comedy but also because they widely reflect the corruption of society. In comedy we often see society's customs exposed as foolish, and thus corrupt. An example f this is the idea of inheritance. It is made obvious that Orlando is the more deserving brother to gain his father's inheritance, as even Oliver admits he is â€Å"f ull of noble devise†.However Oliver, who unintentionally reflects himself as â€Å"an envious emulator of every man's good parts† when attempting to describe Orlando to Charles, has dangerously inherited power despite this. Society customs effect everybody. This is not problematic if the outcome is beneficial, however if the custom is negative an individual alone is not affected but a society as a whole. When the sibling rivalry between the Dukes lead to the encashment of Duke Senior and the new ruling of Duke Frederick, everyone he now rules over in court suffers from his moody and suspicious nature â€Å"Thou art thy father's daughter, there's enough. Those who serve him fear him rather than love him. It is apparent that such customs as ruling and leadership are unfair, as Frederick has not proven fit for such a title as ‘Duke'. The unfairness seen here reflects the corruption of society. The character of Touchstone, regardless of the fact he is a ‘fool', has ironically been constructed by Shakespeare to outwit the majority of characters and much of is speech can be seen as surprisingly sensible. Many of the audience are accustomed to the ways of society and therefore find difficulty in noticing or identifying issues with it.Touchstone is often used to manipulate the audience into questioning such traits. This is seen when he raises the awareness that â€Å"fools may not speak wisely what wise men do foolishly†, insinuating that although he is a fool- meaning that he is employed to expand his speech to that of a sarcastic and mocking nature- he is also restricted and therefore lacks freedom of speech also, â€Å"Speak no more of him†. Those in the audience deemed unimportant in society would have faced severe punishments for speaking out of turn, like Touchstone who is threatened by Roseland ‘You'll be whipped for taxation† when he goes too far in offence to her father.The lack of freedom in speech highligh ts the inequalities between the classes in society, as only those deemed important could speak their mind. Therefore, as it is so unequal and lacks freedom, it can be argued that society is court opt. However, despite his criticisms of society over the duration of the play Touchstone is often seen defending court life, including hen he first enters the Forest of Arden and states â€Å"at home I was in a better place†.This suggests that society may not be as entirely corrupt as first thought, otherwise Touchstone, who has consistently held truth in his words, would find no difficulty in preferring the Forest of Arden. It is also apparent that society is not completely corrupt, otherwise it is unlikely it would be possible for Roseland and Orlando to meet in town yet experience the genuine love they feel towards each other in Act 1 , â€Å"love him†. Love itself if not at all associated with negativity or corruption and as many individuals in society fall in love it woul d be unfair to say that all aspects of society are corrupt.Nature in ‘As You Like It' is seen primarily through the location Of the Forest of Arden. Nature is often associated with positivist, including goodness and wisdom â€Å"woods more free from peril†. Shakespearean play has largely conformed to this association. Indirectly, Shakespeare has compared the Forest of Arden to the Garden of Eden. Not only are these two natural, rural locations related through the fact that they share a similar sound, but they are both based on fantasy and mythology, containing creatures and lands of wide, unlikely versatility: from a â€Å"palm-tree† to an â€Å"oak† tree, and a â€Å"deer† to a â€Å"lioness†.In addition to this, both the Forest of Arden and the Garden of Eden hold religious references, such as when Shakespeare entwines ‘the penalty of Adam† in Duke Senior's first main speech. Shakespeare has used the biblical knowledge of the El izabethan audience to reflect the goodness of the Forest of Arden knowing that people would associate it with the goodness of the Garden of Eden, and thus goodness is found in nature through these references. A central idea used by Shakespeare in his dramatic comedy ‘As You Like It' is that of Fays ‘GreenWorld'. Notably, the ‘Green World' consists of a natural, rural environment where time is forgotten due to the combination of the absence of clocks, and the merging of mythology and reality. Through this, those in the Forest of Arden are theoretically able to enjoy a sense of freedom: the freedom to no longer have to adhere to the expectations of society such as that of status as there is no hierarchy in the forest â€Å"free of public haunt†, the freedom of speech, which in urban society was extremely limited, and the freedom from worry.Due to the absence of surrounding influences such as that of law, the redeem in Arden permits individuals to form opinions for themselves and allows them to expand their capacity of thoughts because there are no longer boundaries or restrictions to this in the forest, and thus wisdom is increased through nature. An example of this can be seen through the character of Duke Senior who has spent a lengthy duration in the forest. This becomes apparent when he states that there is â€Å"goodness in everything'.It is clear that the positive influence of his natural surroundings has enabled him to forget the weight of the heavy negativity in society and he focuses instead on the oddness of the world. It is nature that has inspired him to do this, showing that nature holds much goodness and increases wisdom dramatically. Previously in Act 1 it was suggested that an education is required in order to hold the goodness of a gentleman. Oliver shows signs of confusion about how his brother possesses such a trait despite his poor education â€Å"never schooled†.It is a common expectation that teaching and sc hooling are required to gain an education. Duke Senior however, offers an alternative interpretation in Act 2 when he makes it clear that the Forest of Arden revised a spiritual education and emphasizes that people do not need the formality of urban schooling to be ‘good': â€Å"books in the running brooks† People such as Oliver and Duke Frederick, who have both been educated in urban society and yet been made by Shakespeare to be the villains of the play show that education does not necessarily increase the ‘goodness' of an individual.Characters introduced in Arden such as the shepherds however, who have not been formally educated and yet are extremely good natured, emphasize the goodness of rural society and nature. The good nature of the shepherds s seen first when Silvia expresses his love towards Phoebe â€Å"love so heartily† and remains kind despite the fact the love is unrequited. This is seen secondly when Coring wishes â€Å"peace† to the n ewcomers â€Å"to you, gentle sir, and to you all. † This suggests that perhaps Shakespeare, bred in a semi-rural environment, may be indicating this as a personal belief.Imperfections in nature are highlighted when Duke Senior speaks of the death of the deer which â€Å"from the hunters aim had eaten a hurt†, and the negative â€Å"icy fang' of winter, which connotes that nature is not entirely good. Also despite being in Arden, a timeless place with no hierarchy, Touchstone brings both of these elements into the forest when Jacques speaks of his conversation with him â€Å"It is ten o'clock† and when he informs the shepherds that he and his company are their â€Å"betters†.Overall I believe that Shakespeare does wish to portray nature with a larger amount of wisdom and goodness and less corruption then society. He does this by using various techniques including structure, language and character influences. He deliberately focuses Act 1 entirely on town life in socio and Act 2 primarily on the rural, natural setting of the Forest of Arden.

Meaning Of Auditing And Expectations Gap Accounting Essay

In any economic undertaking accounting and auditing are the critical and built-in constituents. If we can non understand the accounting we will ne'er understanding the auditing. In the yesteryear there was a spread between the hearers and the populace it called â€Å" audit outlook spread † . Expectation spread auditing has a long history and lasting. There is widespread concern the being of outlook spread between the scrutinizing profession and the populace. First of wholly, we will specify of an audit is what contributes to the outlooks spread. Then we will speak about the definition about the outlooks spread in general. The significance of outlooks spread is the difference between what is the users of fiscal statements, the general public apprehension and what is the exclusion of the audit profession in carry oning the audit. In this regard, it is necessary to cognize the distinction between the profession ‘s outlooks of an hearer and the hearer ‘s perceptual experience of the audit. Except users of fiscal statements and the general people may be cognizant checker and a really different reading, or worse still, fails to follow with the criterions set by the auditing public presentation. The hearer ‘s function embraces the sensing and bar of fraud when the users of fiscal statements and the general populace have the educated to believe, particularly in relation to material points. If users of fiscal statements and the general populace were educated to believe that the hearer ‘s function embraces the sensing and bar of fraud, particularly in relation to material points. Besides, the misrepresentation and mistake sensing function of an audit might be comparatively nonsubjective. However, absolute objectiveness can non be guaranteed. On another manus, there are many subjective constructs which require farther elucidation by Auditing Practices Board such as: materiality and material significance. When we look to the primary function of sensing and bar it is welcomed since there are at present. We can non keep the hearer responsible for negative effects of all his actions because there are no sufficient steps to cognize that. Assume that some beginnings of the contents of audit studies that the significance of an audit is fixed while other beginnings such as academic literature beginnings assume that the significance of an audit is non an objectiveconstant. In some latter hypothesis, there is the belief that the outlooks spread can be reduced significantly- if non possible to take. In this assignment, these following subdivisions will explicate as the followers: the definitions of Audit Expectations Gap, the of import constituents of Audit Expectations Gap, how the Audit Expectations Gap will alter or may non be altering in 2010, is it possible to extinguish the Expectations Gap, Expansion of hearer ‘s duties and sweetening of hearer independency and the function of scrutinizing criterions ( ASB ethical criterions ) in cut downing the Expectations Gap.Definitions of the Expectations Gap:There are many definitions of the audit outlooks spread and we set out the clear definitions. Audit outlooks spread is when external hearers ‘ apprehension and cognizing everything about their function and responsibilities is contrast against the outlooks of the general populace and user groups. Harmonizing to Liggio[ 1 ]defined the audit outlooks spread as the difference between the degrees of public presentation expected as it is interpreted by the independent comp troller and the user of fiscal statements. External hearers use these definitions as their bench grade alternatively than the audit profession. The usage of the audit profession as bench grade would assist contract the outlooks spread and show a less subjective component. In this instance it will be a prefer definition and provides a more stable constituent of the outlooks spread. The same as, the audit profession ‘s outlooks are more clear-defined than the personal hearer ‘s outlooks. Mention by Liggio â€Å" users of fiscal statements † as opposite to members of the populace in any instance still will give a subsequence to contract the outlook spread while it is really much more practical to inform users of fiscal information – through one-year general meeting, ect – than it is to assist and educate the members of the people. In 1978 Cohen Commission was regarded as both may happen a spread between what the public suppose and what hearers can anticipate to moderately could hold done. Many definitions have failed to suggest the possibility of deficient public presentation by the hearers [ As right stated by Porter[ 2 ]] . Although Porter highlights the importance of the audit outlooks gap which can be done by comparing society ‘s outlooks of hearers against the sensed public presentation of hearers, the easiest comparing can be prepared during an analysis of the more nonsubjective constituents of the outlooks spread.The of import constituents of the outlook spread:There are a figure of observers have attributed the outlooks gap to users ‘ prevalent misinterpretation, ignorance, confusion, and /or deficiency of instruction. Harmonizing to Porter[ 3 ]analyses: The sum of outlooks spread divided to three separate constituents: viz. sub-standard public presentation ( 16 % ) , lacking criterions ( 5 0 % ) and unreasonable outlooks ( 34 % ) . Figure 1: constituents of Audit Expectation Gap. Due to the fact that the when the criterions are losing can easy be revised, so the deficient criterions constituent can be considered the most nonsubjective constituent even as sub-standard public presentation and unreasonable outlooks are the more subjective constituents. While unreasonable outlooks are subjective, outlook spread will still stay really of import subdivision and can non be ignored Besides, in 1988 the Canadian Institute[ 4 ]of Chartered Accountants guarantors a survey on the populace ‘s outlooks of audit ( the MacDonald Report ) . As the followers, the committee developed some inside informations about the audit outlook spread faculty that explained all the constituents. The constituents were unreasonable outlook, lacking public presentation and lacking criterion. In drumhead, the content of the spread are: Audit confidence ( for illustration: fraud, internal control and traveling concern ) , Audit studies ( perceptual experiences of unqualified study and farther proposal for altering audit coverage ) , independency ( proviso of non direction services and auditor-management relationship ) and audit regular and liability. * 3. Audit outlook spread is defined as the difference that can happen between the users ‘ outlook sing the hearer studies and the hearer ‘s required public presentation and the perceptual experience of the existent public presentation of the instruction. There is no of import tendencies in economic system during 2010 suggest a critical alteration in outlook of users on public presentation of scrutinizing. In my sentiment, today people are more educated and have fair background in scrutinizing. Therefore, this may be able to cut down the spread between the hearers and the general populace. There are general Reasons for being of the Gap. First, there are so of positions on the function of hearers. Second, the populace dose non knows the existent work of hearers and they have troubles to understand its content and the content of nature of scrutinizing. Third, the populace are non able to understand the audit study, because that we have the audit outlook chitchat. Forth, troubles in conveying the instance on audit house.Is it Possible to Extinguish the Expectations Gap?Sikka et[ 5 ]state that the nature of the constituents of the outlooks spread makes it hard to take and cut down. Perceived modus operandi of hearers is an component which is non easy to mensurate and alterations invariably. But it possible to cut down it well but non wholly extinguish. There were a figure of suggestions, which were made as a agency of contracting the outlook spread. These suggestions contain an expanded audit study, which display the country to state and explicate users what auditor really works. For illustration ; expanded function and duty of hearers in the countries of fraud, unlawful Acts of the Apostless and beef up the independency perceived by hearers. The execution of scrutinizing instruction has been proposed as a manner of take downing the outlooks spread. Audit instruction can decidedly assist cut down the outlooks spread. On the other manus can non on its ain be adequate to work out the job of all constituents of the outlooks spread. Harmonizing to Porter, the community should be educated and know that the responsibilities that may reasonably anticipate from hearers in order for audit instruction to be effectual. Harmonizing to Pierce and Kilcommins[ 6 ]analyze the elements of user misconstruing gap consist of: responsibilities, legislative and ethical model, duty and audit studies. The first element responsibilities include of fraud and mistake and many observers have found the outlooks spread in order to be border in footings of revelation and the exposure of fraud. Second, the legislative and ethical model consists of issues like: hearer assignment, audit ordinance and hearer independency. In relation to auditor duty, Gloeck and de Jager[ 7 ]said that when there are a liability spread to the outlooks spread since the populace does non cognize to whom the hearer is responsible. Hearers ‘ sentiment study helps to cut down the spread between hearers and the general populace. And they try to direct a massage for the populace about their work.Expansion of hearer ‘s duties and sweetening of hearer independency:There are other ways suggested by Humphrey et Al.[ 8 ]to shut the outlook spread in 1993. They declared that the populace have no good outlook to lose their hope of hearers as fraud investigators through instruction or feigning that all outlook are extremely publicized audit failures or modifying the audit study length. As a replacement, they proposal three suggestions: foremost of all, start to do an independent office for the auditing to better hearer independency by supervising or commanding the assignment of hearers of large companies and form audit fees. Second, extend the duties of hearers by the jurisprudence so that they include duties to creditors and stockholders clearly. Third, explicating that the hearers have a duty to happen and detect fraud. However, the size of outlook spread and benefits of these three suggested solutions need to look it carefully before suggest or use any solution. Besides in 1993, O'Malley[ 9 ]consent to enforcing excess duties on hearers, particularly with respect to observing fraud. So, he suggested other duties ( four duties ) as the followers: 1.checker appraisal and direction of internal control systems. 2. declared committedness. 3. Assembly audit interim fiscal information. 4. Mentioned by the hearers to their organisation. He besides confirmed that these four suggestions will raise the liability ‘s menace unless the liability crisis is dealt with. Any enlargement of the duties of hearers ‘ universe non is possible every bit long as the liability system operates as a mechanism for reassigning hazard, with hearers as the premier transferees. In 1994, Knutson[ 10 ]proposed a criterion for the outlook spread. His analysis is that keeping hearers responsible for what they should hold known, is the fairest criterion and it is non to be the high criterion of what could hold known. Furthermore, the trust of the audit study should be limited to the board of stockholders and managers and besides to possible stockholders. In the same manner, in 1996, Rabinowitz[ 11 ]acknowledge that there are a small of lacks in the audit procedure which cause to decrease the profession of public assurance in the profession. There are some solutions to counterbalance for these lacks. First of wholly, it must form the controlling construction of the top directors and executives. Than lifting external and internal audit interaction. Third, the hearers must hold experience and preparation to the entities to be hearers. Forth, they must reexamining employment patterns and developing excess effectual audit actions. Finally, they have strength of audit commissions.The function of scrutinizing criterions in cut downing the Expectations Gap:In December 2004, Accounting Pored Standard ( APA )[ 12 ]issued five criterions with respect to the independency and objectiveness of external hearers and the safety of the supply of insurance services. In the past these ethical criterions holds the hereafters of ethical counsel issued. But now has added more characteristics and by and large more rigorous than predating counsel. Fore illustration: the Internal Financial Accounting Code ( IFAC ) , they base on rules instead than regulations and highlight objectiveness from the point of position of logical and knowing 3rd party. They fulfill with ethical rules issued by the Europen Commission ( EC ) . Individually from the five ESs, APB besides issued a statement of Provision Available for Small Entities ( PASE ) . The single ESs and ES-PASE are as the followers: ES1- unity, objectively and independency. ES2- fiscal, concern, employment and personal. ES3- long association with the audit battle. ES4- fees, wage and development policies, judicial proceeding, gifts and cordial reception. ES5- non audit services provided to scrutinize clients. ** ** From book -The Audit Process book – rules, pattern and instances, 4th Editor, lain Gray Stuart Manson. Decision In decision, this assignment explains and views the cogent evidence about nature relationship of an audit outlooks gap between the hearers and the general populace ( users ) . In some parts of the universe there is an audit outlooks spread. The users think that the hearers must supply their sentiment and understand the fiscal statement so that they can measure whether to put in the entity or non. Besides, there are some users who expect hearers to make some of the audit actions at the same clip as executing the attest map such as prosecuting in direction supervising, perforating into company personal businesss and separating banned Acts of the Apostless and/or fraud on the portion of direction. On the portion of users of fiscal statements, these are the high outlooks that make a spread between hearers and general public outlooks of the audit map. The shaping of audit outlook spread is differs from one individual to another. In any event, all the research workers say that there are ou tlooks chitchats between the hearers and the users because there are a batch of or over of outlooks a map of audit ‘s work and deficiency of cognition on the function and duties of the hearers made the users to anticipate a high degree. As good, literatures unwrap that when the populace knows a turn the objects and the function of audit and hearers and their duties will assist to contract the outlook chitchat.

The History of Human Interactions with Caribou

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus, and known as caribou in North America), were among the last animals domesticated by humans, and some scholars argue that they still arent fully tame. There are currently about 2.5 million domesticated reindeer located in nine countries, and about 100,000 people occupied in tending them. That accounts for about half the total population of reindeer in the world. Social differences between reindeer populations show that domestic reindeer have an earlier breeding season, are smaller and have a less-strong urge to migrate than their wild relatives. While there are multiple subspecies (such as R. t. tarandus and R. t. fennicus), those subcategories include both domestic and wild animals. That is likely the result of continued interbreeding between domesticated and wild animals, and support of scholars contentions that domestication took place relatively recently. Reindeer Key Takeaways Reindeer were first domesticated in eastern Russia between 3000–1000 years agoThere are about 5 million reindeer on our planet, about half are domesticated todayArchaeological evidence shows reindeer were first hunted by humans during the Upper Paleolithic of about 45,000 years agoThe same species are called caribou in North America Why Domesticate a Reindeer? Ethnographic evidence from pastoral peoples of the Eurasian Arctic and Subarctic (such as the Sayan, Nenets, Sami, and Tungus) exploited (and still do) the reindeer for meat, milk, riding, and pack transport. Reindeer saddles used by ethnic Sayan appear to be derived from horse saddles of the Mongolian steppes; those used by Tungus are derived from Turkic cultures on the Altai steppe. Sledges or sleds drawn by draft animals, also have attributes that appear to be adapted from those used with  cattle or horses. These contacts are estimated to have occurred no longer ago than about 1000 BCE. Evidence for the use of sledges has been identified as long ago 8,000 years ago during the Mesolithic in the Baltic Sea basin of northern Europe, but they were not used with reindeer until much later. Studies on reindeer mtDNA completed by Norwegian scholar Knut Rà ¸ed and colleagues identified at least two separate and apparently independent reindeer domestication events, in eastern Russia and Fenno-Scandia (Norway, Sweden, and Finland). Substantial interbreeding of wild and domestic animals in the past obscures DNA differentiation, but even so, the data continue to support at least two or three independent domestication events, probably within the past two or three thousand years. The earliest event was in eastern Russia; evidence for domestication in Fenno-Scandia suggests that domestication may not have occurred there until as late as the Medieval period. Reindeer / Human History Reindeer live in cold climates, and they feed mostly on grass and lichen. During the fall season, their bodies are fat and strong, and their fur is quite thick. The prime time for hunting reindeer, then, would be in the fall, when hunters could collect the best meat, strongest bones and sinews, and thickest fur, to help their families survive the long winters. Archaeological evidence of ancient human predation on reindeer includes amulets, rock art and effigies, reindeer bone and antler, and the remains of mass hunting structures. Reindeer bone and antler and artifacts made from them have been recovered from the French Upper Paleolithic sites of Combe Grenal and Vergisson, suggesting that reindeer were hunted at least as long ago as 45,000 years. Mass Reindeer Hunting Rock art of Alta (UNESCO World Heritage Site), petroglyphs in the Alta Fjord, Norway.   Ã‚  Manuel ROMARIS / Moment / Getty Images Two large mass hunting facilities, similar in design to desert kites, have been recorded in the Varanger peninsula of far northern Norway. These consist of a circular enclosure or pit with a pair of rock lines leading outward in a V–shape arrangement. Hunters would drive the animals into the wide end of the V and then down into the corral, where the reindeer would be slaughtered en masse or kept for a period of time. Rock art panels in the Alta fjord of northern Norway depict such corrals with reindeer and hunters, substantiating the interpretation of the Varanger kites as hunting corrals. Pitfall systems are believed by scholars to have been used beginning in the late Mesolithic (ca. 5000 BCE), and the Alta fjord rock art depictions date to approximately the same time, ~4700–4200 cal  BCE. Evidence for mass kills involving driving reindeer into a lake along two parallel fences built of stone cairns and poles has been found at four sites in southern Norway, used during the second half of the 13th century CE; and mass kills conducted this way are recorded in European history as late as the 17th century. Reindeer Domestication Scholars believe, for the most part, that it is unlikely that humans successfully controlled much of reindeer behavior or affected any morphological changes in reindeer until about 3000 years ago or so. It is unlikely, rather than certain, for a number of reasons, not the least because there is no archaeological site which shows evidence for the domestication of reindeer, at least as yet. If they exist, the sites would be located in the Eurasian Arctic, and there has been little excavation there to date. Genetic changes measured in Finnmark, Norway, were recently documented for 14 reindeer samples, consisting of faunal assemblages from archaeological sites dated between 3400 BCE to 1800 CE. A distinct haplotype shift was identified in the late medieval period, ca. 1500–1800 CE, which is interpreted as evidence of a shift to reindeer pastoralism. Why Werent Reindeer Domesticated Earlier? Why reindeer were domesticated so late is speculation, but some scholars believe that it may relate to the docile nature of reindeer. As wild adults, reindeer are willing to be milked and stay close to human settlements, but at the same time they are also extremely independent, and dont need to be fed or housed by humans. Although some scholars have argued that reindeer were kept as domestic herds by hunter-gatherers beginning the late Pleistocene, a recent study of reindeer bones dated from 130,000 to 10,000 years ago showed no morphological changes in reindeer skeletal material at all over that period. Further, reindeer are still not found outside their native habitats; both of these would be physical marks of domestication. In 2014,  Swedish biologists Anna Skarin and Birgitta Ã…hman reported a study from the reindeers perspective and conclude that human structures—fences and houses and the like—block the reindeers ability to range freely. Simply put, humans make reindeer nervous: and that may very well be why the human–reindeer domestication process is a difficult one. Recent Sà ¡mi Research Indigenous Sà ¡mi people began reindeer husbandry by the Medieval period, when the reindeer were used as a food source, but also for traction and carrying loads. They have been interested and actively involved in several recent research projects. Evidence for physical changes in reindeer bones caused by humans using them for load-pulling, carrying and riding has been investigated recently by archaeologists Anna-Kaisa Salmi and Sirpa Niinimà ¤ki. They examined skeletons of four reindeer reported to have been used for traction, and while they did identify some evidence of patterned skeletal wear and tear, it was not consistent enough to be clear evidence without additional support for the reindeers use as a draft animal.   Norwegian biologist Knut Rà ¸ed and colleagues investigated DNA from 193 reindeer samples from Norway, dated between 1000 and 1700 CE. They identified an influx of new haplotypes in reindeer who died in the 16th and 17th centuries. Rà ¸ed and colleagues believe that likely represents trade in reindeer, as the annual winter Sà ¡mi trading markets including traders from the south and east into Russia were instituted by then.   Sources Anderson, David G., et al. Landscape Agency and Evenki-Iakut Reindeer Husbandry Along the . Human Ecology 42.2 (2014): 249–66. Print.Zhuia River, Eastern SiberiaBosinski, Gerhard. Remarks on the Grave above Burial 2 at the Sungir Site (Russia). Anthropologie 53.1–2 (2015): 215–19. 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