A Hardware-Based Software Protection Systems - Analysis of Security Dongles with Time Meters

Software piracy is the illegal duplication or the installation of copyrighted software on more computers than authorized under terms of the software license agreement. Globally, businesses and consumers will spend $300 billion on PC software over the next four years, according to International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates. Given the current market growth by country and current country-level piracy rates, during the same four-year period, we can expect almost $200 billion worth of PC software to be pirated [1]. Protecting application against not authorized copying using program solutions is impossible. If there is a possibility to start program, there is also a possibility to crackit. Cracking means that application can be used without being registered or to the application there is a mechanism added which enables to obviate implemented there protections. The device protection of software (dongles) has existed on the market for many years and it has functioned as devices protecting the software against not authorized copying and usage. The dongle significantly increases the level of security in a non-linear way, because a hardware key is an external device that is controlled and protected by the security solution provider and not the end-user. This gives the software security vendor freedom to develop specific hardware only for the purposes of enhancing security. This is not available in a software-based protection solution as it is dependent on the PC controlled by the end-user. The dissertation presents tools and techniques used to break devices´ protection of software with time meters. The dongles with time meters contains an internal real-time clock, indicating the exact time and date. The dissertation provides information about the applied methods and techniques of breaking the hypothetical construction of device´s protection with time meter. The research is the introduction to designing the hardware protection of programmes resistant to well-known methods- of breaking through safety of electronic devices´ keys.