Methods of Protecting Software

This section contains general description of the methods of software protection.

Among technical solutions offered for the protection of off-the-shelf software the following several groups can be named.

Usage of specially coated key diskettes and CDs, passwords and registration numbers
Implementation of these protection methods does not require heavy financial investments, however they cannot guarantee high reliability against attacks. Therefore, this kind of protection is recommended only for cheap software. What matters for this software is achieving popularity and wide circulation (sometimes due to pirated copies). Usage of a more powerful and expensive protection system would be pointless in this case.

Dependence on the Unique Computer Features
This protection method is much more resistant to attacks than the above and its implementation requires little investment. However, due to the specifics of realization of this protection meachanism, it is the least convenient method for end-users and causes a lot of complaints. A program protected by this method cannot be transported on any other computer and experiences difficulties with upgrading. Usage of such a protection method makes sense when the manufacturer is sure that it will not scare away the customers.

Software-and-Hardware Protection Based on Dongles
Currently, this is the most reliable and convenient method of protecting medium to high cost off-the-shelf software. This method is very strong to attacks and does not limit the usage options for a legal software copy. Usage of this method is economically beneficial when protecting programs that cost no less than 100 USD, since even the cheapest dongles increase the cost of software by 20 to 25 USD.

Dongles are mostly used for protection of commercial software: accounting and inventory management applications, legal and corporate systems, building construction estimates, CAD systems, electronic reference systems, analytical software, ecological and medical software, etc. Development of such software require heavy invesments, therefore the cost of software is high as well, and the loss from illegal distribution is considerable. In this case dongles present the optimal protection means.