CEHv6 module 50 software piracy and warez

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Ethical Hacking and CountermeasuresVersion 6

Module LSoftware Piracy and Warez

Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures v6

Module L: Software Piracy and Warez

Exam 312-50

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News

Source: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/

According to a study published by BSA (Business Security Alliance), South Africa can build a strong local

IT sector, produce high paying jobs, and contribute to the country’s economy by reducing software piracy.The study conducted by BSA and International Data Corporation (IDC) states that IT industries are a major source for job, tax revenues, and gross domestic products of South Africa The South African IT industry is expected to offer 99,000 jobs, R84 billion in economic growth, and over R30 billion in tax revenues by the year 2011 In South Africa, reducing the current software piracy rate of 35% to 10% can have the effect on increasing economic benefits, producing 1200 additional jobs, R480 million in tax revenues, and R6 billion expenditure in the local IT sector in the next four years

Alastair de Wet, chairperson of the BSA in South Africa, said when countries perform necessary action against software piracy, everyone benefits

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Microsoft discovered that more than a dozen countries are using illegal copies of Windows and Office Microsoft said that using illegal copies can turn innocent consumers into criminals and they also can increase the risk of viruses and spyware The case against software piracy started in 2001 A U.S custom officer seized a shipping container of $100 million worth of fake software and 31,000 copies of Windows operating system After this incident, Microsoft started its investigation on software piracy in 22 countries Microsoft has estimated the retail value of pirated software at $900 million, accounting for 90% of illegal software found between 1999 to 2004; approximately 470,000 disks Some companies are interested in providing serious resources to protect against software piracy, because it very difficult to get the profit

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Module Flow

Software Activation

Process of Software Activation

Impacts of piracy Warez

Dongles

Software Piracy Protection Strategies Tools

Warez Distribution Methods

Piracy

Module Flow

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EC-Council

Software Activation

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Software Activation: Introduction

Software activation is the process of obtaining a license for software

so that it becomes active and ready to be used on the computer This can be done automatically over the Internet or manually by phone, fax, or email

Only that software can be activated for which the license has already been purchased

 Software Activation: Introduction

Software activation is a process of acquiring a license for software so that it becomes active and can be used on the computer Software activation can be done over the Internet, via phone, and through email

It is a process by which a license file is copied onto the computer, which can be detected by the software when it starts up, and changes the software from evaluation mode to a fully licensed program that allows you to save, print, and use without restrictions

While activating software, you can assign each license to a particular computer (desktop license) or if it is

a Local Area Network, then you can allow the license to flow between connected computers Desktop license is the easiest method but it is a complex method for large firms and universities

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3 • These Product Keys are then integrated with the vendor’s software

4

• Each copy of the software is labeled with the Product Key and sold

to the end-users

(cont’d)5

• The end-user buys or downloads the product from the vendor and installs it on a computer

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• During installation, an Authentication Number consisting of the unique Computer ID and time stamp is sent from the end-user’s computer along with the Product Key to the Software Activation Service

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• Product Key and Authentication Number are validated and a License Key is sent

to the end-user’s computer

8 • Now the end-user can start using the software

 Process of Software Activation

The process of activating software is as follows:

 First, software vendor should complete their registration process with the Software Activation Service (SAS)

 After activation of account, software vendor can generate product key for their product

 These product keys are then integrated with the vendor’s software

 Every software is provided with the product key and sold to the end-user

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 The end-user may purchase or download the product from the vendor and install it on a computer

 At the time of installing software, user sends product key, computer ID, and time stamp to Software Activation Service

 The software vendor validates the product key and authentication number and sends a license key

to the end-user’s computer

 Now, the end-user can start using the software

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Piracy

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• An individual copying software for a friend

• A business under-reporting the number of computers using the software

• Sending your username and password to friends

• Downloading cracks or key generators to by-pass security features

Software piracy is the illicit copying and distribution of a product for personal or commercial use Copying software without obtaining an appropriate license is called copyright infringement

Each of the following activities is a form of software piracy:

 Illicit copying of software

 Business using software on multiple computers without reporting

 Sending your username and password to your friends for downloading the software

 Downloading key generators and cracks to avoid the security privileges

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Piracy Over Internet

Internet piracy is the uploading of commercial software on to the Internet for anyone to copy commercial software from any of the services

It includes making available the pirated software over the Internet and offering

it for sale Internet piracy is the most rapidly expanding type of piracy and the most difficult form to combat

• Auction Site Piracy

• This type of piracy occurs when seller burns software on to CD-ROMs, and offers it for online selling

• Bulletin Board Services & News group piracy

• FTP Sites

• In this, FTP allows the pirates to download or upload the files to the site

Internet piracy can take many forms:

• A website that allows users to download commercial/legitimate software for free of charge

Warez

Source: http://www.siia.net/

EC-Council

• Due to the distributed and anonymous nature of P2P sites, these are used for distribution of unauthorized software and content

Peer-to-Peer

• Cracks are small files that circumvent copyright protection and the key generator is an application that uses the serial number

or CD key-generating algorithm to create fake

Cracks/Serial Numbers sites

Internet Relay Chat

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 Piracy over the Internet

Internet piracy includes unauthorized copying of software, music, or movies from the Internet or uploading over the Internet for selling It also includes the advertising and selling of software over the Internet At first, CDs, floppies, or other media were used for software piracy, but due to the evolution of various Internet services, Internet piracy has become the best way for pirates to operate It is cheaper, requires less time, and there are less chances of detection

Types of Internet Piracy:

 Auction Site Piracy:

In Auction Site piracy, the seller makes a number of copies of software and offers it for cheap rates over the Internet In auction sites, the seller sells a software CD to the highest bidder but during bidding the process, he/she collects the names and e-mails of the other losing bidders, andcontacts them for selling the pirated copies at a lesser price

 Bulletin Board Services & News Group Piracy:

In bulletin board services & news group piracy, software pirates send the link or information that

is needed for downloading the software over the newsgroups so that the number of people connected to that group can easily download that software

For example, if anyone gets the key to download the software, then he/she posts that key to the group so that the entire group members can download the software freely

 FTP Sites:

Pirates use FTP sites to upload software, music, or video to any www location, which they can sell over the Internet Many FTP sites support anonymous login

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 Cracks/Serial Numbers Sites:

Cracks, key-generators, and patches play a major role in Internet piracy of software applications Cracks and patches are files that are used to avoid the copyright protection by changing the source code Key generators use the serial number of the software or CD key creating algorithms A software pirate provides the key or serial number of software onto their site

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Abusive Copies

Abusive Copies occur when a single legitimately acquired CD

or downloaded version of a software program is used to install the software on multiple PC's

The original copy of the software is licensed to be installed only on a single machine or to be used by no more than one person at a time

A large percentage of abusive copies are made by users who would purchase licensed copies if they do not have an option

of making an abusive copy

Installation of an abusive copy is convenient rather than lack

of motivation or resources to purchase

 Abusive copies

Source: http://www.power-t.com/copy_protect.html

When a single legitimately acquired CD or downloaded version of a software program is used to install the software on multiple PCs, it creates “abusive” copies The original copy of the software is licensed to be installed only on a single machine or to be used by not more than one person at a time Most software today does not have effective mechanisms to prevent abusive copies

A large percentage of abusive copies are made by users who would purchase licensed copies if they did not have an option to make an abusive copy The reason to install an abusive copy is convenience and expediency, rather than lack of motivation or resources to purchase One of the most disturbing aspects of abusive copies is that if there is no protection mechanism, a single licensed copy can spawn a virtually unlimited number of abusive copies, particularly if the licensed copy is made available over the Internet (a phenomenon called "exponential abuse") Thus, a mechanism that prevents abusive copies reverses a significant loss of income for most software companies

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Pirated Copies

Pirated copies are unlicensed physical copies of an original program

CD that are manufactured and sold by an illicit manufacturing and distribution operation

They are misrepresented to the end-user as legitimate versions of the program and sold at close to full price

They are also grouped with several other programs on a CD in a clearly pirated and typically steeply discounted bundle

Fake pirated copies are a major income loss for software companies since purchases at close to full retail price that would otherwise be routed through the legitimate distribution system are being lost

 Pirated Copies

"Pirated" copies are unlicensed physical copies of an original program CD that are manufactured and sold

by an illicit manufacturing and distribution operation They are sometimes misrepresented to the user as legitimate versions of the program and sold at close to full price (counterfeiting) or sometimes are grouped with several other programs on a CD in a clearly pirated and typically steeply discounted bundle Counterfeit pirated copies are a significant income loss for software companies, since purchases at close to full retail price that would otherwise be routed through the legitimate distribution system are being lost Bundled pirated copies are less of a source of income loss since the end-user may not have the motivation

end-or resources to purchase a legitimate full price version of the product Most of today's software products have no mechanism to prevent pirated copies

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Cracked Copies

These are the original copies of the software that are modified by crackers to prevent any copyright protection mechanism that may have been implemented in the program The modification is performed by disassembling the executable program and searching for copyrighted segments

Those segments are then directly modified to disable them

Cracked versions of programs are distributed in an underground fashion on the Internet

Cracked copies are original versions of the software that are modified by "crackers" to circumvent any copy protection mechanisms that may have been implemented in the program The modification is performed by painstakingly disassembling the executable program and searching for segments that implement the copy protection mechanism Those segments are then directly modified to disable them Cracked versions of programs are often distributed in an underground fashion on the Internet, or are sometimes offered on CDs in discounted bundles in a similar fashion to pirated copies

For most applications, cracked copies are not a significant income loss since potential end-users with the motivation and resources to purchase a legitimate version of the program are hesitant to endanger their activities by using software that has been modified and could cause serious problems on their PC Cracked copies can also be difficult to locate and obtain since they are an underground phenomena by nature

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Impacts of Piracy

Local software companies have lost their income by competition with pirated software from abroad

Government lost tax revenues

Most of the employees lost their jobs due to lack of a legitimate market

By using Internet and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks piracy rates has been increased

Over 60% of Internet traffic is driven by P2P downloading which clearly shows the level of piracy on Internet

Software Piracy Rate in 2006

Software Piracy rates in the year 2006 Source: http://arstechnica.com

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Piracy Blocking

Piracy is not neutral like other infrastructural modes but mediates the media that work under its command of reproduction

piracy requires particular conditions for recording, transmitting and retrieving data

Constant copying wears down data storage, degrading image and sound, disturbing the signal of media content with the noise produced by the means of reproduction

Dealers involve s in pirated media by reproduction of original copy and recording data on cheap tapes by the use of poor quality machines

 Piracy Blocking

Piracy has a rippling effect on economies of many large organizations and countries According to a report, movie piracy alone causes a total loss of $20.5 billion per year for U.S industries Business Software Alliance (BSA), comprising Microsoft, IBM, and Apple Computer, and IDC have estimated the percentage of software programs pirated globally at about 40 percent

Piracy blocking efforts by many organizations and industry groups were unable to achieve desired results Though several techniques such as online activation and distribution have been widely used in the industry, with the advent of Internet movie sharing, peer-to-peer file sharing, and other such services, piracy is increasing at an alarming rate to an extent where it may paralyze large media and software giants, and cripple IT and entertainment industries

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EC-Council

Software Copy Protection

Backgrounders

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Many applications today use a "CD key" number When the software is installed, the user must type the

CD key number, and the software will not install unless the key number matches a pattern stored on the

CD (or internally in the program in the case of software downloaded from the Internet) This key number

is usually supplied with the CD as a label attached to the case or in the documentation for the program Sometimes, the CD key number is fully serialized with a different number for each user, and sometimes it

is only different for various production runs of the software

Note that this key number is not an effective deterrent against unlicensed copies, since it can be entered without limitation every time the software is installed on an additional unlicensed PC It can also be easily transmitted along with the software on the Internet to allow installation on a remote machine The only real advantage in the use of CD key number is that during support calls, the customer refers to this key number and provides his/her contact information, and the use of unlicensed copies can be detected

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Some software applications use a copy protection mechanism most typically referred to by end-users as a

"dongle." A dongle is a hardware device that connects to the printer port, serial port, or USB port on a PC When the protected application starts, it checks to see if the correct dongle is in place, and will not function if it is not detected Dongles are still used by many specialized applications Dongles have several disadvantages that have limited their usage Users universally dislike dongles for a variety of reasons Dongles can be troublesome to install and use, since they often require a special hardware driver, and they can interfere with the use of peripherals such as printers and scanners Since there is no standard for dongles, each protected program requires an additional dongle, which causes an unwieldy "stack" of connected dongles on the back of the PC

Dongles are also not an option for many software companies, since they add an additional manufacturing expense between $5 and $20 to each copy of the program Dongles also do not facilitate Internet-based distribution of software since a dongle must be shipped to each customer to allow operation of the software Dongles are not a realistic copy protection mechanism for most software applications

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Media Limited Installations

Media Limited Installations is a copy protection mechanism used

by software applications

It referred to as the Media Limited method, because it requires the program can be installed from a re-writable media such as a floppy disc

The installation program counts each installation to an install counter on the re-writable media

When the specified installation counter is exceed then no additional installation will be allowed

It requires a floppy disc that cannot be copied by normal accessible disk copying methods.

 Media Limited Installations

Some software applications use a copy protection mechanism that limits the number of times a program can be installed from the media that contains it This mechanism, referred as the "Media Limited" method, requires that the program or a component of the program be installed from a re-writable media such as a floppy disk When each install is performed, the installation program writes to an install counter

on the re-writable media, and when a specified installation count is exceeded, no additional installations are allowed For this protection mechanism to be robust, the file containing the installation count must be encrypted and hard to be located and modified In addition, this mechanism requires that the floppy disk

be manufactured in a manner that makes the disc impossible to be copied by normally accessible disk copying methods

While still in use by some software manufacturers, this protection method is typically disliked by users since the mechanisms to make the disk hard to copy can cause problems with the completion of a licensed installation of the software The method also requires that a specific disk type, for example, floppy drive, be present on the user's PC The method also does not facilitate Internet-based distribution

end-of send-oftware, since special media must be shipped to each customer to allow installation end-of the send-oftware

Tiêu đề	Software piracy and warez
Trường học	EC-Council
Chuyên ngành	Ethical Hacking
Thể loại	module
Năm xuất bản	2011
Thành phố	South Africa

Định dạng
Số trang	49
Dung lượng	2,64 MB