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Geek Culture / TZ 2 - CDR Copy Protection for DB / DBP software

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Rob K
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Posted: 20th May 2003 17:48
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Something I've been working on for a little while, a beta is now available and it is a little buggy (*cough*understatement*cough*) - But you might be interested.

What is TZ 2?

TZ 2 is a piece of software which can encrypt .exe files so that they will only run with an original CDR in the drive.

How does it work?

You enter a password to encrypt the exe, you record your CDR using Nero (record in TAO mode). You then use TZ's CD key generator to analyse the physical characteristics of the CDR and your password (the same as used to encrypt the exe), and a CD-KEY is produced.

The end-user enters that CD-KEY on first use, and as long as the orignal disc is used, the program will run. If the wrong CD-KEY is entered or a disc copied with CloneCD / Alcohol 120% is used or a virtual drive with an ISO image mounted is used, the program will not run.

Download

You can download the beta and read more info here:

http://tzcopyprotection.cjb.net

Only exes can be encrypted, but often other types of data can be packed into exes using various commercial tools. Both DBClassic and DBPro exes work fine.
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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 20th May 2003 17:55
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can use CDRWIN too

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Rob K
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Posted: 20th May 2003 20:24
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Only Nero is guaranteed to work though, which is why I recommend it.

I haven't tried CDRWin with it, but I couldn't be sure.

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 20th May 2003 20:38
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well the software i've got for it doesn't even have a Nero button, just CDRWIN and Alchol

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Ian T
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Posted: 20th May 2003 20:48
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Seems interesting... although it does strike me as a little futile, because it's normally, what, three days until a hacker snaps the CD check code out of the .exe anyways... still, I'll check it out.

--Mouse

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Rob K
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Posted: 20th May 2003 21:10 Edited at: 20th May 2003 21:11
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@Mouse

That is on commercial releases though, where every hacker under the sun has a go at it. A protected app in small circulation on a CDR stands a better chance of lasting.

In addition, there is something seriously messed up about SafeDisc & SecuROM, the fact that generic decryptors were released which could decrypt the executables without even needing an original disc. Getting an exe out of this is easy enough if you know what you are doing, however a technology has been researched to deal with this. The difficult part which I've yet to overcome is applying this technology to compiled exes (applying it if you have the source code is easy or if you can get it into a DLL called by the exe). I thought about replacing DLL calls, but hackers can bypass that so easily it isn't worth it.

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Ian T
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Posted: 20th May 2003 21:27
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Good point(s).

What's this technology?

If there's data on the disk or the hard drive, it will always be possible to hack it and make it run without the CD or any copy protection.

For the sake of many good things, I certainly hope so at least...

--Mouse

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actarus
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Posted: 20th May 2003 22:45
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Was it programmed in darkbasic?

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Cras
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Posted: 21st May 2003 00:00
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dont forget.. it may be a small community that its circulating, but its a small community of programmers. One of us here must be able to hack something small like a cd-key code.

uk.geocities.com/maniacimagine check it out. ill soon be formally opening it.
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rapscaLLion
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Posted: 21st May 2003 00:01
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Doesn't this infringe on the consumer's right to a working backup copy?

Alex Wanuch
aka rapscaLLion
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actarus
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Posted: 21st May 2003 00:04
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It doesn't as long as you don't buy it j/k

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pugmartin
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Posted: 21st May 2003 00:16
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Sounds great Rob K. Been thinking about this a LOT lately. Hope it works

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http://geocities.com/pugmartin/index.html
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the_winch
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Posted: 21st May 2003 00:23
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You don't have a right to be able to make a bakup copy just the right to make one.
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actarus
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Posted: 21st May 2003 00:26
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-You don't have a right to be able to make a bakup copy just the right to make one

lmao!Really?

That explains why I keep making successful backups...I never installed such a software silly me

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Rob K
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Posted: 21st May 2003 00:47
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"Doesn't this infringe on the consumer's right to a working backup copy?"

That is for the developers to decide not me. If there is a demand, I could provide facilities to lock the copy to a PC, so that the CD is not required.

It is programmed in Delphi, not DarkBASIC, but it works with DBP exes.

"You don't have a right to be able to make a bakup copy just the right to make one"

Could you explain that please?

"What's this technology?

If there's data on the disk or the hard drive, it will always be possible to hack it and make it run without the CD or any copy protection."

Not without the CD. For example, if I was sent a TZ 2 protected exe over the internet, and I didn't have a working CDR, I (the protection developer) could not crack it (obviously it COULD technically be bruteforced - any encryption can, but it shouldn't be easy).

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Ian T
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Posted: 21st May 2003 02:57
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But... my point is, the .exe is made up of bits. If the right bits are altered or removed, the copy protection will be gone-- it just needs to be found and cut out, right?

As you said, though, unless it's a pretty major thing it's unlikely someone will go to the trouble to hack it, let alone distribute the hacked version.

--Mouse

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Rob K
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Posted: 21st May 2003 14:42
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@Mouse

If you remove the copy protection part, the loader will not be able to obtain the keys to decrypt the protected exe (as in, the CD is essential in order to work out the decryption code), so it can't possibly run.

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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 21st May 2003 15:19
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you can bypass it though
but which bytes to alter and bypass would need the handy touch of a seasoned hacker & a pretty useful asm editor

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Ian T
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Posted: 22nd May 2003 07:21
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...and as Rob said, those guys stick to the big fish .

Thanks for explaining Raven & Rob.

I'm currently working out a scheme for a copy protection system... prolly something tried and failed before, but I like envisioning it anyhow...

--Mouse

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Rob K
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Posted: 22nd May 2003 14:03
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@Raven

You cannot bypass it - it will just crash if you attempt that. Even if the hacker had the source code for the app, he could not "bypass" it (unless he had the CD).

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the_winch
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Posted: 22nd May 2003 20:57
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Quote: ""You don't have a right to be able to make a bakup copy just the right to make one"

Could you explain that please?"


You are allowed to make a bakup copy of the software you own.

People who sell software are not required to supply you with the equipment/info to make a bakup.

This sort of software may piss off users and not actually make any extra sales but it is ok as far a rights to make bakups. It's not your fault the users cd recorder is incapable of producing an exact copy of the original disk.
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Rob K
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Posted: 23rd May 2003 20:19
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The user IS entitled by law to make a backup in the UK, but not in the US AFAIK.

However, the end publisher doesn't have to make backups easy to do, they can employ whatever technologies they like to make it difficult, but the publisher cannot take a user to court for making a backup. Swings and roundabouts.

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IanM
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Posted: 23rd May 2003 22:56
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For a seasoned cracker, it would be fairly easy to crack your scheme.

All he (or she) would need to do would be to insert a small piece of code to stream the decrypted data out to a file as the decryptor runs using an original CD with an original key.

Even if the extracted executable kept re-checking the CD as an extra level of protection, it would be faily easy for the same cracker to mask out that code too once it showed itself.

Basically, it depends on how much effort someone is willing to put into cracking your protection scheme. Keep your software cheap, and hope they don't bother you, is the best you can do sometimes.

The UK 'backup' right is called 'fair use'. In the UK, you are entitled to make one copy of your software, but the producer of the software is not forced to make any special allowance for you to do so.
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Rob K
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Posted: 23rd May 2003 23:01 Edited at: 23rd May 2003 23:02
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@IanM

The process is created with the data still encrypted, but yes, this method would work.

Not necessarily - not implemented into this version, but could be, is a modification such that the exe is initated (but still encrypted), remove all the initiation data (eg: DLL refs etc.), then decrypt the rest of the data. That way if you dump the exe, the dumped executable will not run as there will be a lot missing.

The only other way would be to replace all the DLL references with links to your own custom DLL. At the end of the day, your final sentence sums up the problem of binary protection.

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Ian T
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Posted: 23rd May 2003 23:14
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Well, it's impossible to totally protect something anyways, especially on a computer. Although I suppose it could get down to the point where the hacker wonders 'Why aren't I writing my own program instead of going through this mess'

--Mouse

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Rob K
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Posted: 24th May 2003 00:04
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Hehe - I wish.

If your software is high profile enough, it WILL be cracked. End of story. Thus you only have two hopes:

1) To delay the crack for a few months to get past the opening launch window when a large number of copies are sold

2) That your software is not high profile enough for a good cracker to attempt to break it.

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Andy Igoe
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Posted: 24th May 2003 00:23
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Quote: "If your software is high profile enough, it WILL be cracked. End of story."


One corporate project I was on I decided to take the initiative and release the crack myself. Ensuring of course that there would perenially be probems and instabilities caused by the crack - fine for the home users who wheren't going to by it anyway, but unaccepteable to our paying corporate customers who where lumbered with having to buy the original.

Also, I seem to recall there being several versions of the crack with various incompatable fixes. I can't imagine what that was all about...

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Ian T
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Posted: 24th May 2003 00:43
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One of the best meathods of stopping piracy, actually, as Dryll noted, is releasing fake or nonworking copies and cracks yourself. If you can get 10 fake copies of your program up on Kazza, you'll seriously hamper piracy. Also, keep an eye out for real copies-- when you see one, download it and screw up the file in a hex editor The size won't change, so when you put that up, people will download a little bit of the file from you-- if your messing-up was effeciant enough, the copy will be corrupted when they grab it.

--Mouse

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Rob K
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Posted: 24th May 2003 00:53
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"One corporate project I was on I decided to take the initiative and release the crack myself. "

You are not the first - that was done with one of the most famous apps ever - VisiCalc.

@Mouse

Good points. Flooding Kaza / other sites with fakes is an effective tool, but sadly one which is not often employed. It would work well too, because it would be hard to combat and most crack / serial sites rarely test the codes which they post.

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