I have a module that includes a function with some private data that should be secured. I don’t want the hassle of constantly compiling the whole module, if that is even possible.
I want to be able to call the function and get information out of it, but I need to put this script on a variety of machines where it might be accessed and the code read by someone who should not have the information used to derive the output.
I saw something about compiling PowerShell scripts. When compiled, can they be included as commands provided by a module?
How can I go about this?
The basic answer is that PowerShell was never designed for obfuscation. There is no way, out of the box, to protect your code. To some degree, this is very intentional – we want people to read, validate and leverage/extend code to gain maximum re-usability.
As Latkin suggests. the best way is to compile the code using c# – but even that can be viewed using reflection. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ericgu/archive/2004/02/24/79236.aspx gives some hints on how to obfuscate the C# code.
If your code is commercially sensitive, then you need to work out how sensitive and take action accordingly. Converting your code to C# is not that difficult (assuming you have VS and know C#!), although the suggestion of coding in C++ then using interop to invoke it seems hard work, but it all depends on the value of the code you are protecting. SO if the code really is sensitive, you have options, but they are not easy ones.
Sorry if this is not quite the answer you wanted.