Perfection in Software Protection, Licensing and Cybersecurity: Recent Episodes
Wibu-Systems
In its mission to deliver unique, most secure and highly versatile technologies to software publishers and intelligent device manufacturers, Wibu-Systems has developed CodeMeter, a comprehensive and award-winning suite of hardware- and software-based entitlement solutions for the protection of software rights and technical know-how against piracy, reverse engineering, tampering, sabotage, and espionage.
Python has become an increasingly attractive choice for software developers, also thanks to the sheer range of solid, up-to-date resources for AI and machine learning applications. However, its simplicity makes it an appealing target for would-be attackers. With the latest iteration of CodeMeter Protection Suite, you no longer need to transform your Python code into a native application; encrypting Python code effectively is now possible in its original form.
Whatever your vision of cloud licensing, CodeMeter can help it come true with its choice of building blocks: CodeMeter License Central lets software vendors create, manage, and distribute licenses to their end users; CodeMeter Cloud Lite provides simple licensing capabilities for SaaS applications run by their vendors; CodeMeter Cloud allows you to store licenses in the cloud for end users to enjoy their software wherever they want; and the license portal is the self-service solution for end users.
A The recent technological advances have dramatically changed the way embedded systems are programmed and made it easier to customize hardware-based features. As software drives innovation, licensing and security expertise becomes crucial in the embedded systems domain. With IP theft, espionage, data and code manipulation, hijacking, and ransomware growing rampant, new skills have to be mastered to generate new revenue streams in the global digital economy while keeping core assets protected.
Virtual environments are becoming increasingly popular. Virtualization is cost-efficient and extremely flexible, and it is easy to use with major providers, such as Amazon (AWS) or Microsoft (Azure). However, virtualization exposes ISVs to additional software protection and licensing threats. With CodeMeter, you have the tools and methods you need to safeguard your IP, no matter which virtual environment configuration you and your customers prefer.
A license portal is the software vendor’s business card; it is essential that the customer experience of collecting and managing licenses matches the user’s business case and expectations. What you need is thus a modular design for this key component of the license lifecycle. WebDepot can be customized to provide the essential components only, to handle online and offline licenses, to allow users to move licenses in between containers, and even to rescue them when licenses are lost.
Over the last decades, licensing has surged to become a true business enabler for any digital asset, with the advent of cloud computing supercharging its potential. However, not all use cases are born equal, and a servitazion approach can make all the difference for a successful impact on a global scale. CodeMeter supports a vast array of licensing schemes, giving software developers the ability to offer users as much freedom as they want without compromising on security.
Wibu-Systems’ CodeMeter comes preloaded with a versatile repertoire of safeguards and mechanisms to ensure that lost licenses are just a brief inconvenience and neither a burden on users nor an open door to malicious actors for software publishers. Regardless of the license container of your choice, CodeMeter provides user-friendly recovery mechanisms, blacklists, and smart license configurations to prevent illicit use of the original license you delivered.
Digital certificates have proved their worth as a strong means of authentication for decades. With IIoT taking center stage in industrial automation, machines need to be identified securely as well to stop illicit users or systems from sneaking in and potentially wreaking havoc in networks. X.509 certificates, coupled with communication protocols like OPC UA and hardware-based safe storage solutions like CmDongles, are ideal choices to meet the challenges of today.
With .NET’s popularity growing even further since the release of .NET Standard and .NET Core, there has been increasing interest in its built-in security features like code signing and code access security. At the same time, .NET code remains notoriously susceptible to reverse engineering. AxProtector .NET provides robust protection of .NET executables and libraries, custom error handling, and a new level of performance that you can fine tune to meet your specific requirements.
The new generation of CodeMeter is a goldmine of opportunities for ISVs and their users. Supercharged with new and augmented automation capabilities and even more flexibility, the secure distribution of software is entering a new phase: Core features, integration in software applications, and complete support for back office processes have all been supplemented with unique functionalities for the world market.
With the introduction of CmCloudContainers, a new era of cloud licensing has started, one that provides users with an unprecedented new level of freedom. No need to carry around dongles or keep license files that are bound to one machine only. Instead, users are free to access their licenses anywhere and from any device. CmCloudContainers also work with all CodeMeter protection mechanisms, can contain multiple licenses, are easy to set up, and as secure as dongles.
The Industrial Security Podcast, hosted by Andrew Ginter and Nate Nelson, of Waterfall Security Solutions, features leading experts who talk about ICS security, SCADA security standards, protection from cyberattacks, and more. During the interview, Marco Blume, Product Manager Embedded at Wibu-Systems, explored how intellectual property protection, safety, and cybersecurity work together in the discrete manufacturing sector. He addressed four key areas where smart industries could maintain the security of the machine-to-machine communications and protect the IP integral to the operations and integrity of the PLCs, sensors, and other connected devices: Software protection, license management, secure key storage, and certificate management.
CodeMeter addresses the needs of all software publishers from all sectors of industry. With CodeMeter License Central, they have the tool they need to map any licensing model. Both experienced software vendors who are exploring a possible migration to CodeMeter and newcomers who are dipping their toe in the water with CodeMeter can improve the art of mapping out their licensing schemes to make them as simple as possible and as complex as necessary.
As the CodeMeter technology expands to welcome CodeMeter Cloud and reaps all of the mobility benefits associated with making licenses available in the cloud, anytime, and from any device, software developers should feel at home: All workflows for creating, delivering, changing, and managing licenses stay the same, whether you choose hard, soft, or cloud license containers. You can mix and match them in a heterogeneous architecture. All you need is to choose whether you want your licenses offline on a computer, mobile on a dongle, or online in the cloud.
CodeMeter provides different paths to strong protection and flexible licensing. With CodeMeter Core API, you are in control over every option in the process: you can create simple license queries that you can make available via a wrapper as company-wide standard libraries, manage licensing operations, implement tailored cryptographic functions, and customize queries for maximum security. Combine it with Wibu Universal Protection Interface and CodeMeter Protection Suite and you’ll have the perfect security setup.
Hersteller, die in den Märkten von morgen immer noch die Zügel in der Hand halten, werden als erste das Ende von Produkteigentum erkennen, den Übergang von Produkten zu Dienstleistungen sehen und ihre gesamte Lieferkette aus einer völlig neuen Perspektive betrachten. Sie werden modernere Lizenzierungsmodelle implementieren und die Lizenzupdates beim Start der Software unauffällig im Hintergrund laufen lassen, sodass der Anwender nur bestellen muss und von den dazugehörigen Aktionen nichts mitbekommt.
The manufacturers who will still be holding the reins in tomorrow’s markets are the ones who are first to understand that the product ownership era is coming to an end, to transition from products to services, to rethink their entire supply chain from a radically new perspective, to implement newer licensing models and enable license updates transparently in the background when the software is started, without the customer having to take any additional action other than placing the purchase order.
With HTML5 applications and environments, easy-to-deploy frameworks like Electron and node.js, and Docker containers, languages that used to be confined to the online world are becoming the focus of on-premise applications alike. Similarly, the technological barrier between cloud, edge and on-premise applications is becoming increasingly blurred. This change creates new conditions for software protection and licensing that CodeMeter Runtime, CodeMeter Protection Suite, CodeMeter Core API, and CodeMeter Cloud Lite address with unique strategies.
Intellectual property can come in all shapes and sizes, spanning from algorithms mapped in software to sensitive documents or data made available to service technicians for their maintenance work. If your IP is stolen, you can always sue later on, but prevention is better than cure. With CodeMeter Protection Suite, Wibu-Systems provides a whole battery of IP protection tools that you can integrate quickly and easily into your software. These tools are tailored to suit the specificities of the development environments and target platforms used.
ISVs usually migrate to a new secure licensing technology in response to the more complex protection and/or licensing needs they have to confront with. Choosing a mature, interoperable, comprehensive, and widely adopted technology, developed independently by a fully dedicated vendor, makes even more sense when ISVs want more solid ground to stand on when they reach for higher sales goals. An array of use cases and associated migration approaches will help you realize whether you are ready to leapfrog into the future of license and entitlement management.
Die Migration neuer, sicherer Lizenzierungstechnologien hängt ab von komplexeren Schutz- und/oder Lizenzierungsbedürfnisse, die von Herstellern einzuhalten sind. Die Wahl einer ausgereiften, interoperablen, umfangreichen und weithin anerkannten Technologie, unabhängig von einem vollwertigen Anbieter entwickelt, ist besonders sinnvoll, wenn Hersteller ihre Vertriebsziele steigern und eine solide Basis erreichen wollen. Verschiedene Anwendungsfälle und Migrationsansätze zeigen Ihnen, dass Sie sich sofort mit der Zukunft von Lizenzierungs- und Berechtigungsmanagement befassen können.
Wenn Sie sich für Siemens TIA Portal® entscheiden, werden Sie Ihre Anwendungen für Siemens SPS und HMI mit zuverlässigen Technologien absichern wollen. CodeMeter License Central bildet die Brücke zwischen CodeMeter Keyring Password Manager, dem Nutzer-, Kenntwort- und Rechtemanagementtool, und CodeMeter Keyring for TIA Portal Password Provider, dem CodeMeter-Interface im TIA Portal. Sie können Ihrem Team klar definierte Rollen zuweisen, geistiges Eigentum in Ihren Projekten schützen und den Zugriff der Nutzer mit einer Hardwarelösung beschränken, auf die Sie sich verlassen können: mit CmDongles.
Ein Dongle ist ein mehr als 30 Jahren verfügbarer, effektiver Kopierschutz für Software. Für den Hersteller stehen dabei die Sicherheit gegen Hacker und die vergleichsweise günstigen Unterhaltskosten im Vordergrund. Für den Anwender ist es die Möglichkeit, die Lizenzen mobil und komplett offline zu nutzen. Aber der CmDongle bietet auch eine Funktionalität, die diese Nachteile von herkömmlichen Dongle-Lösungen für ausgewählte Branchen und Anwendungsfälle beseitigt: er ist multiherstellerfähig.
Die Integration der CodeMeter License Central in SAP, die weltweit bekannte Business Suite, vereinfacht und beschleunigt Ihre Backoffice-Prozesse. Lizenzierung und Berechtigungen sind im Workflow enthalten. Das ERP-System wird erweitert um automatisches Erzeugen von Lizenzcode, Lieferung an den Anwender und Tracking aller Aktivierungen.
When you invest in Siemens TIA Portal®, you also want to safeguard your applications for Siemens PLC and HMI with a higher gear. CodeMeter License Central is the gateway between CodeMeter Keyring Password Manager (the user, password, and entitlement management tool) and CodeMeter Keyring for TIA Portal Password Provider (the component that bridges CodeMeter with the TIA Portal). You can then assign clear roles to your team members, protect the IP of your projects, and control user access with a hardware-based solution: CmDongle.
For more than 30 years, dongles have been an effective choice for software protection. What software developers like about them is the great protection they offer against hackers, coming at comparatively low costs for them. Users, on the other hand, enjoy their portability and the option of using their licenses on the go and offline. But CmDongles have also one feature that beats one key weakness of typical dongle solutions in many industries and use cases: they are multivendor-capable.
Mit .NET Standard steht eine Spezifikation der .NET-APIs zur Verfügung, die eine Interoperabilität und Kompatibilität zwischen den verschiedenen .NET-Umgebungen vereinfacht. Damit können Entwickler ihre Anwendungen einfacher plattformunabhängig implementieren oder von einer Plattform auf eine andere migrieren. AxProtector .NET verschlüsselt .NET-Framework-Anwendungen automatisch. Mit AxProtector .NET Standard können auch .NET Standard 2.0 Anwendungen geschützt werden, zum Beispiel .NET Core 2.0-Anwendungen oder Mono 5.4-Anwendungen.
The integration of CodeMeter License Central with SAP, the world champion business suite, offers a significant advancement in back office performance. License lifecycle management and entitlement are incorporated within the existing workflow. The ERP system is enriched with automatic features for generating license codes, transmitting them to the user, and tracking their activation.
Java is everywhere and risks are lurking at every corner of the Java journey. To circumnavigate them, AxProtector Java comes with the ability to automatically encrypt the Java Byte Code. It can only be decrypted on the fly during loading and before the JVM springs into action, and only if the right license is available. No decrypted Byte Code will find its way onto the hardware during the entire process. And all hardware and software-based CodeMeter license containers are supported.
.NET Standard provides a specification for the .NET APIs that simplifies interoperability and compatibility between different .NET environments, making it easier for developers to implement their applications or migrate from one platform to another. AxProtector .NET is able to protect .NET applications using the entire .NET Framework. In particular, the AxProtector .NET Standard flavor can protect .NET Standard 2.0 applications, including .NET Core 2.0 and applications for Mono 5.4.
Automating license and entitlement management with CodeMeter License Central can free up your time, provide a reliable source of alerts for you to intervene in person when you have to, and allow you to customize factors to meet your customers' needs
Whether your software is under the attack of a hacker or you are being cheated by a customer, or have lost one of your dongles, CodeMeter offers the unique ability in the global market to lock licenses down.
The evolving needs of business and customer base are pretty likely to outgrow the structure of the licensing system originally put in place; Custom Licensing Adapter is the key reference point when it comes to interfacing a legacy licensing system
Pay-per-use licensing schemes build a high level of trust with customers, allowing them to pay on the go for the machine lease, the consumables, the raw material, or the software package they specifically requested, at the time they really need it.
Die Lizenzierung mit Pay-per-Use-Modellen basieren auf einem starken Vertrauensverhältnis zum Kunden, denn die Kunden zahlen für das Leasing von Maschinen, für Verbrauchs- und Rohmaterialien oder für gewünschte Softwarepakete, sobald benötigt
Da Lizenzierung in der Cloud inzwischen zum Trend wurde, bietet CodeMeter etwas Einzigartiges für den Weltmarkt. Gemäß unseren Prinzipien von Einheitlichkeit, Vollständigkeit, Einfachheit, Einzigartigkeit und Kontinuität haben wir eine Lösung entwickelt.
For the optimal protection of your software, the code should be split into individual parts and dynamically reassembled at runtime. Translocated Execution enters the scene and inserts automatic decryption routines into your application.
The entitlement and disablement of functionalities, disablement of complete licenses, automatic updating of license checkpoints, and renewals of subscriptions or maintenance contracts are just some use cases you may come across
While CodeMeter Protection Suite protects software against illicit actions, SmartShelter|PDF, SmartShelter|SDL, and CodeMeter Core API are here to protect and license your digital documents.
Das Schlüsselelement der neuen Version CodeMeter Embedded 2.0 ist Kompatibilität. Und zwar zu allen Embedded-Plattformen, -Betriebssystemen; allen Bauformen der Schutzhardware und zu allen Kernelementen der CodeMeter-Technologie
The key element of the new CodeMeter Embedded 2.0 is compatibility: Compatibility with any embedded system platform and operating system, the complete array of Wibu-Systems’ hardware and software secure elements, and all the core elements of CodeMeter
Secure endpoints, namely devices that employ both computation and communications resources and expose functional capabilities, are your first line of defense against cyberattacks.
OPC UA is a multi-platform, plug & play Information Exchange Standard that is facilitating the convergence of OT and IT. CodeMeter Embedded fully supports the defined Security Profiles, configurations and provides even stronger security.
A great help for designing your licensing business model to handle software functions separately and deliver scalable packages that grow in features and investment as needed. Meet higher revenue goals and surprise customers with tailored offerings
In order to prevent a hacking attack, you need to think like a hacker and go beyond textbook cryptography. Planting perfectly crafted mines in the code is the ultimate means to vanquish perpetrators.
License and maintenance subscription models have become the cash cows in software sales as they provide complete flexibility to both the vendor and the end user. CodeMeter features subscription workflows, automatic renewal, customization options, and more
The surge of smart factories is reshaping the very essence of industrial manufacturing. The security implications in terms of data, communication, and company assets are enormous.
License deployment can take many different forms depending on environmental circumstances. It can be as straightforward as an activation on the license server for the networked users to use and monitor their license immediately.
The Industrial Internet is a massive game changer with its commercial value estimated at $33 trillion. Ruggedized environments are often characterized by substantial swings in temperature, humidity, and vibrations.
The integration of CodeMeter License Central with SAP, the world champion business suite, offers a significant advancement in back office performance. License lifecycle management and entitlement are incorporated within the existing workflow.
A journey from essential elements, to security requirements and applications, in order to master certificate usage, implement software authenticity, enforce user authentication, ensure integrity, and control access rights management.
Cisco forecasts that by 2020 there will be 50 billion connected devices on the planet spanning everything from entertainment and information to the industrial and medical markets
The choice for the most convenient, secure and performing hosting solution is one not to underestimate, both in terms of setup, operation and maintenance. Wibu-Systems offers a wide array of competitive hosting services for your CodeMeter License Central
CodeMeter µEmbedded extends the security features to Programmable Logic Controllers and microcontrollers. The integration with the XMC4000 microcontroller from Infineon Technologies offers software developers the ability to protect and license their code
New insights for ISVs that are already using Salesforce, the undisputed #1 cloud-based CRM, or are evaluating this platform.
AxProtector Java is an essential encryption component of CodeMeter. Unlike the traditional AxProtector, AxProtector Java makes use of special techniques tailored for this language that encrypt the intermediate code.
AxProtector is definitely your primary choice: it provides automatic protection tools, it is extremely secure, and the fastest encryption solution.
In cooperation with Avangate, Wibu-Systems has fully streamlined its protection and licensing technologies with one of the leading cloud commerce solutions.
As cyberphysical systems are introduced in manufacturing, security and safety become vulnerable under the cyberattacks to embedded software, machines and plants.
Software monetization is the key strategy to grow your top line revenues while controlling bottom line costs. The 3 S’s of Wibu-Systems unveiled: seamless, secure and scalable technology.