software protection

[mom]

dear sir,

we are designing SCADA software using labview 7.0 with DSC module. This scada software exe we are giving to customer on CD. User can copy the cd contents and able to run exe. I want such a things that user should copy this cd contents only one time so that he can not use that cd contents on another pc. For another pc if he want to install scada software he should buy another cd from us only. This is i am asking for software protection.

[Dev_777]

Friend, I think doing this'll not be possible as u can not write or change the data in the CD. But u can use one alternative that many S/W companies are already using.

i.e.   Issue a serial key with every CD to the user, Whenever user installs the s/w, ask for the cd key and the let the s/w send a mail to u to ask for some activation code, Once u issue a activation code for that serial no. keep that serial no. indata base. If some person uses that serial key again u check that in your database before issuing the activation code. The software will be activated only after this activation code. This is a tested method so success rate'll be good.

Another method that comes to my mind is quite creative, U put little dynamite at last sector of your CD and let it burn as soon as CD Rom head detects it. This way CD will get blasted just after installing the software and nobody'll be able to reuse it. Bad jock...sorry. But take the first one seriously.

Regard

DC  

[Wiebe@CARYA]

There is no way to do exactly what you ask (invalidate the installation cd after one install, or supply one key that works ony once on an arbitrary PC). You'll have to work with activation keys, or dongles.


For the activation keys, you need an id of the customers PC. This can be for instance a MAC address, processor id, windows serial number, or harddisk id. They will need to send this to you. You'll then need to hash it, or encript it in some way. Then you send it back to them. After installation, the program need to ask for this hash. If it's correct, the software doesn't ask for it again, and will work normally. If it is wrong, it won't function.


The program needs to store the key somewhere, so it will know if it's activated or not (don't store a boolean "activated" in the registry!). They can't copy it, so it's save to store. You can even burn the CD with this number filled in for them, so the software runs after installation.


As with all methods, there are ways to crack this. But since all the work is done in LabVIEW, one needs to be a LabVIEW guru, and a cracking guru to crack this protection! If you make one VI that accepts the string, and returns a true false, and call it "Check Password.vi" it will make it easier to crack, even if you build an executable.


Regards,


Wiebe.

[STGS]

Hi,

copy preventing is nearly impossible, but execution preventing is very simple: You can use an USB copy protection dongle, that supports Labview, like SG-Lock®. More information under: www.sg-lock.com/us.


Sven

[Sima]

That USB dongle sounds cool.

For this one project I worked on, we wanted to make sure they'd use the hardware/software package we provided, so the software application would verify the serial number of the USB DAQ device connected or it wouldn't run. A little harsh, but sometimes you have to protect yourself. It made sure they couldn't reproduce the entire system without at least our knowledge - and charging them for it.

[Wiebe@CARYA]

Just don't expect any protection to be 100% safe.

Any protection can be broken, and it all comes down to how much effort it
takes to bypass it. The higher the price, and the more users the less time
it will take to be cracked. Some $10000 dongles can be cracked in 10
minutes.

Regards,

Wiebe.