 Software Protection
1. Protection with Strong Encryption
An Age-Old Principle
Even 3,500 years ago, encryption was used to protect trade secrets. Back then, seemingly meaningless characters were used as a cipher to protect the recipe for a custom clay glaze. The methods may have changed, but the principle is the same today when protecting your software.
You encrypt your software and transfer the key to the authorized recipient who can then use the key to run the software. The only requirements are a secure encryption algorithm, and a method to securely transfer the key to the user.
However, the user has little motivation to keep the key a secret. This means, you also have to ensure that even authorized users do not pass the software, and are not able to copy the key. This requires you (1) to safely store the key, and (2) to prevent an unprotected version of the key from getting extracted from your protected software.
With CodeMeter we offer you a solution where the key is safely stored in a dongle – the CodeMeter Stick. In our purely software-based solution CodeMeterAct – which is a part of CodeMeter – the key is encrypted in a way that it can only to be decrypted on the PC of the licensed user.
With AxProtector and IxProtector we offer you a technology which dynamically decrypts and re-encrypts your software at runtime, and thus protects it against extracting an unprotected version of the key.
CodeMeter offers you:
- state-of-the-art encryption algorithms
- standardized solution (dongle and activation)
- technologies and tools for protecting your software
WibuKey® our time-tested product, available since 1989, is based on the same principles and provides you with most of the CodeMeter functionalities.
The License Entry
You don´t have to become an expert in cryptography to use CodeMeter. You just have to program a license entry into a CodeMeter Stick, or into a CodeMeter license file. This entry consists of two numbers, the Firm Code and the Product Code, and can also contain additional "option" parameters.
The Firm Code is assigned to you by WIBU-SYSTEMS. You get a master key, the Firm Security Box, together with your Firm Code. Only you can program your license entries because the Firm Code is unique.
You are free to choose the Product Code. If you want to protect more than one product, you can assign a different Product Code to each one. The Product Code is a 32-bit value, allowing you to define up to 4 billion different products.
Firm Code, Product Code and further options (Product Item Options) represent the visible part of a license entry. Out of these parameters, together with other invisible parts, the effective key to protect your software is calculated inside the CodeMeter Stick, or the CodeMeterAct module.
More Than a Key
The unique secret data you store in every CodeMeter Stick provides the security that prevents the CodeMeter hardware from being copied outside of WIBU-SYSTEMS.
The Firm Key enables you to store a "secret key" in the hardware, known only to you. This guarantees that even WIBU-SYSTEMS can´t reprogram your dongles.
At runtime you modify the encryption using the Encryption Code. We call this "polymorph encryption". Quite unspectacular on first examination, but understand that by simply modifying the Encryption Code you get 4 billion alternating keys for every Product Code! Now that´s security!
Top Security
The software protection of WIBU-SYSTEMS has been successfully tested against the international hacker community. In our Hacker´s Contests, more than 1,000 global participants found our security a tough nut to crack.
All three levels of our system have proven their strength: the secure hardware as a foundation, the encrypted communication between hardware and software, and, finally, the technology to modify the software in the PC memory.
When your CodeMeter protected software detects cracking attacks, the CodeMeter Stick can be locked to prevent further cracking attempts. Why to give a hacker a second chance to analyze your software?
When looking for copy protection hardware, you need to make sure that a system is: (1) Easy to implement. (2) Uses advanced encryption algorithms to protect your code. (3) Ensures that the decryption key is easily transferred to your customer in such a manner that they are unable to transfer it to others illegally. (4) Can detect cracking attempts and provide "on the fly" counter measures. And finally... (5) It wouldn´t hurt your pocketbook if you could share the cost of the dongle with other developers. You really should not settle for less when it is about securely and economically protecting your software. |
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