System and method for retrofitting application code

Disclosed is a system and method for retrofitting defensive technology that transforms potentially dangerous computer programs into safe programs. The present disclosure involves applying software rewriting and/or randomization algorithms to monitored application launches and/or API calls. The present disclosure provides systems and methods for understanding and manipulating how untrusted software will behave upon execution, thereby thwarting any chance the untrusted software could launch and/or institute a weaponized malicious software attack. The present disclosure can apply a light-weight binary rewriting and in-lining system to tame and secure untrusted binary programs. The disclosed systems and methods can also implement binary stirring by imbuing native code of software with the ability to self-randomize its instruction addresses each time it is launched.