Techniques for obscuring sensitive strings in C++

Question

I need to store sensitive information (a symmetric encryption key that I want to keep private) in my C++ application. The simple approach is to do this:

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Answer 1

Somewhat dependent on what you are trying to protect as joshperry points out. From experience, I would say that if it is part of some licensing scheme to protect your software then don't bother. They will eventially reverse engineer it. Simply use a simple cipher like ROT-13 to protect it from simple attacks (line running strings over it). If it is to secure users sensitive data I would be questioning whether protecting that data with a private key stored locally is a wise move. Again it comes down to what you are trying to protect.

EDIT: If you are going to do it then a combination of techniques that Chris points out will be far better than rot13.