What do the companies do to encrypt that file? There might be other methods to generate keys with another algorithm, but they never store all keys in the program. There usually is no encrypted file when using the previous method. Where does it usually look to find this 'encrypted file'? That's why a lot of tools use online validation. Within the program, do the same hash, and compare with the product key.This is the individual user's 'Product Key' Unpack the SHA1 hash as an alphanumeric string.Concatentate the users name and the secret key and hash with (for example) SHA1.Generate yourself a secret key for the product.One of them was discussed in stackoverflow:Īssuming you don't want to do a special build for each user, then: Well it depends there are many implementations. I am starting to write my own software to be distributed, I was wondering what existing, relitivly easy methods can I use to prevent.What measures can companies take to prevent the use of keygens in pirated software?.Are they using different methods entirely?

I have played around a llitle with some password-cracker software such as 'cain & able' and I have noticed, that with some of the password-cracking methods, such as brute-force and dictionary, it gives me ETAs in years, however keygens seem to create keys instantly.What method is the keygen using to create the key?.I would emagine that the key must be stored in more than just plaintext, what do they do to keep it encrypted?.Is it in a physical file on the computer, or an of-site database that it calls?.How do they create and/or recognize the keys to allow the software to start working? I am an intermediate programmer, but I never learned much of the security/anti-piracy aspect of it. How do programmers usually create software that works based on a key.But I wanted to know how they do that, and how to prevent it.

I know the basic principle of it: the keygen looks somewhere in the software installation files and creates a key that matches some encrypted file which allows the program to work. I have seen them plenty of times, with many different types of software, but the one thing I have always wondered, is how software keygens know what key to generate.

How to use a keygen program