LaserLock

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LaserLock is a copy protection system for CD-ROMs with 32-bit Windows applications, which in 1995 by the Greek company MLS LaserLock International Inc. was introduced.

technology

LaserLock is supposed to check whether the original data carrier of a program is inserted. This check can be carried out regularly or only once during the installation of the program. LaserLock was one of the first copy protection systems available, with different versions being developed over time.

It uses a combination of hard-to-reproduce marking on the disk and encryption. The protection code is embedded in an executable file on the data carrier using a proprietary tool . This file, which is responsible for finding the physical mark on the data carrier, is encrypted and is given a layered protection against code analysis to make reverse engineering more difficult. The keys to the encrypted user data are embedded on the data carrier between formally incorrect areas to prevent standard-compliant drives from sequentially reading and copying the data. There are routines that are supposed to recognize the use of a debugger in order to then abort the regular program flow. LaserLock adds a hidden directory called Laserlok with files that contain formally incorrect data. When copying the data carrier, the reader encounters errors due to this data. Copying leads to unstable behavior of the copied software and often to bad sectors which are supposed to make it impossible to use without the original disk.

The size of the encrypted file varies from 20 MB on CD-ROMs to 40 MB on DVD-ROMs and can be reduced to 5 MB in special cases. The use of this copy protection can be recognized by a hidden folder called "LASERLOK". The protection can be bypassed by copying raw data without error correction. There are also generic patcher programs with which the protection can be circumvented.

Web links

Individual proof

  1. ↑ a b Dimitrios Simitopoulos, Nikolaos Zissis, Panagiotis Georgiadis, Vasileios Emmanouilidis, Michael G. Strintzis: Encryption and watermarking for the secure distribution of copyrighted MPEG video on DVD . In: Springer Science and Business Media LLC (Ed.): Multimedia Systems . 9, No. 3, September 1, 2003, ISSN  0942-4962 , pp. 217-227. doi : 10.1007 / s00530-003-0093-4 .
  2. ^ Brijesh Rajput: A Survey Of Contemporary Protection Mechanism For Preventing Piracy Of Digital Discs . In: International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research . tape 2 , no. April 4 , 2013, ISSN  2277-8616 ( ijstr.org [PDF]).
  3. ↑ a b Commercial CD / DVD Protections: LaserLock. In: CD Media World. Retrieved September 18, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b Aishvarya Pedgaonkar, Pradeep Mohan Bhat: RFID-based Software Protection . S. 3 ( psu.edu [PDF]).
  5. ^ Karen Mercedes Goertzel, Booz Allen Hamilton: Protecting Software Intellectual Property Against Counterfeiting and Piracy . In: CrossTalk . September 2011, p. 8 ( psu.edu [PDF]).
  6. ^ The Dark Art of Game Backups . In: Maximum PC . tape 6 , no. 1 . Future US, Inc., January 2001, ISSN  1522-4279 , p. 62 .
  7. ↑ Ahlam Hussein Yousif: Design Method To Protect The CD From Penetration and Contents Copy On The Computer . In: Al-Mustansiriyah Journal of Science . tape 27 , no. 3 , July 3, 2016, p. 122 ( iasj.net ).