  The last years have seen an increase in Man-at-the-End (MATE) attacks against
software applications, both in number and severity. However, software
protection, which aims at mitigating MATE attacks, is dominated by fuzzy
concepts and security-through-obscurity. This paper presents a rationale for
adopting and standardizing the protection of software as a risk management
process according to the NIST SP800-39 approach. We examine the relevant
constructs, models, and methods needed for formalizing and automating the
activities in this process in the context of MATE software protection. We
highlight the open issues that the research community still has to address. We
discuss the benefits that such an approach can bring to all stakeholders. In
addition, we present a Proof of Concept (PoC) decision support system that
instantiates many of the discussed construct, models, and methods and automates
many activities in the risk analysis methodology for the protection of
software. Despite being a prototype, the PoC's validation with industry experts
indicated that several aspects of the proposed risk management process can
already be formalized and automated with our existing toolbox and that it can
actually assist decision-making in industrially relevant settings.
