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javacool
March 1st, 2002, 05:53 PM
Net Technology promises to raise the stakes in software piracy.

(I wasn't quite sure where to post this, so I placed it here. It IS an interesting news story.)

Couresty SecurityNewsPortal:
{QUOTE->
New Technology promises to raise the stakes in fight against software piracy
Will Miracode be able to stop the crackers ?
03-01-2002 3:04:16 PM CST -- Press Release from Miracode

NEW TECHNOLOGY PROMISES TO RAISE THE STAKES IN SOFTWARE PIRACY

A new technology has been developed whereby software suffers imminent failure if attempts are made to engineer unlicensed use. Miracode Corp. announced Friday, March 1st (3/1/2) that it had made public a software tool which can be used by software developers to finally create secure and un-crackable software.

Currently, a war has waged between software developers and teams of "crackers" (those proficient in reverse engineering software for purposes of piracy) with the latter always seeming to maintain the upper hand... until now perhaps.

Staying competitive in the market has always required some companies to demo their latest and greatest software developments. However, allowing potential customers to try the product before purchasing has had certain risks. At some point, the demo must end and the software user must "pay to play". A mechanism is built into the demo insuring this. This mechanism is targeted by crackers and once defeated a "crack" is posted on the internet allowing others to easily do the same. Because no copy-written software code is being distributed, web sites and other distribution channels freely continue the distribution of these "cracks".

The possibility of losing the sale to "unlimited play" has led to temporary solutions which have all ultimately been defeated by determined crackers. This new technology tackles the problem from a different perspective and offers a new option to software developers struggling with licensing violations: "pay or else".

Said Rob Hock, company P/R, "Regardless as to whether [miracode] is in place or not, using crack ultimately compromises the integrity of computer systems. In order to have a secure environment, the legitimacy of software code must be maintained. This is ever so important today as the internet connects all of these machines together. While [miracode] cannot ensure that crack will go away, it does render its results anything but desirable. Whether developers choose to incorporate [miracode] protection into their software or not, ultimately all will benefit from the increased awareness in which [miracode] lends itself."

Beyond protecting the customer's software, Miracode is distributed under the same protection it sells and can be reached on the web at http://miracode.com

CONTACT INFO:

Rob Hock, Public Relations
Miracode Corp.
pr@miracode.com

<-QUOTE}

javacool
March 1st, 2002, 05:53 PM
Aaah, how could I forget the link?

http://www.securitynewsportal.com/cgi-bin/cgi-script/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=JanH%2edb&command=viewone&id=54

UNICRON
March 1st, 2002, 06:32 PM
This should prove interesting. The cracker community will probable spend a god deal of time on this. Anytime someone says "my software is un crackable", the crackers generally take it personally. I wonder who will win (my money is on the crackers)

javacool
March 1st, 2002, 07:59 PM
{QUOTE-> This should prove interesting. The cracker community will probable spend a god deal of time on this. Anytime someone says "my software is un crackable", the crackers generally take it personally. I wonder who will win (my money is on the crackers) <-QUOTE}

My money also (unfortunately) - nothing can be 100% crack proof...it may be 99% crack-proof, and it may take the underground community quite a while to crack it, but it will, most likely, get cracked.

UNICRON
March 1st, 2002, 08:29 PM
If it can be made, it can be un-made, if it can be encrypted, it can be decrypted, if it can be locked, it can be unlocked. Such is the way of things. (except maybe when you heat sugar to a liquid form)

Checkout
March 2nd, 2002, 06:42 PM
In my humble opinion, this is a revolutionary breakthrough. *There is no way this system can be compromised.

Hey, hello Father Christmas! *How nice of you to bring along the Tooth Fairy! *Have you seen this fantastic piece of software? *They say that once it's been installed on the average household pig, we'll all be able to fly to work!

Hurrah!

javacool
March 2nd, 2002, 07:59 PM
{QUOTE-> If it can be made, it can be un-made, if it can be encrypted, it can be decrypted, if it can be locked, it can be unlocked. Such is the way of things. (except maybe when you heat sugar to a liquid form) <-QUOTE}

Lol...

And to Checkout: I do agree this is revolutionary, but as Unicron said "if it can be locked, it can be unlocked" and I totally agree.

"Locks are made to keep honest people honest, and criminals - well, they find some way around them."

UNICRON
March 2nd, 2002, 10:39 PM
hey, you never know. It may never be solved, but that still doesn't prove a hack does not exist.

Conveniently, it is illogical to assume something doesn't exist, just because you can't find it (see below link)

If it turns out no one ever finds a hack, we'll all wish we bought stocks in these guys. But it goes the way of pretty much every other security measure ever invented, it will be beat sooner or later.

Was it written by the Navajo? I'd worry then.....

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-2.htm

Checkout
March 4th, 2002, 08:58 AM
{QUOTE-> And to Checkout: I do agree this is revolutionary, but as Unicron said "if it can be locked, it can be unlocked" and I totally agree. <-QUOTE}
Er...I was being sarcastic...