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Title: Crackproof Your Software: Protect Your Software Against Crackers (With CD-ROM) by Pavol Cerven ISBN: 1-886411-79-4 Publisher: No Starch Press Pub. Date: October, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (5 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: A little dated, 2nd ed. requested!
Comment: I enjoyed reading Crackproof your software, and actually read through it in one sitting. I found that too many of the actual code samples were limited to windows 9x only. Given the Oct 2002 publishing date (more than a year after the release of XP) I would have expected (and appreciated) more XP centric code samples. It also would have perhaps been better if the tricks and tips were seperately described for each OS. I'd recommend this to anyone looking to keep their software off the 0-day warez boards.

Rating: 4
Summary: Human Ingenuity (Spy vs. Spy)
Comment: Much of current software defenses against crackers consists of preventing or detecting breakins to your computer from across a network. The cracker is inherently at a disadvantage. For one, you (the sysadmin) have physical access to your machine. You can reboot it at will; compare signatures of installed programs against known signatures that are stored readonly; and you can install network analysers and other computers to check your main machine.

But there is an entirely different cracker activity where she now has built in edges. This consists of where you write code that others can install on their computers. Your code can end up on a cracker's machine. She has (you have to assume) a good deassembler and decompiler, and is fluent in the assembly language of your code.

You don't have it easy. Cerven explains the many measures you might take to protect the running of your code. Alas, for most of these, if not all, over time, a sufficiently talented cracker can find a countermeasure. The book is a tribute to human ingenuity. As a purely intellectual puzzle, you may find his explanations intriguing.

He describes a small cottage industry of companies that offer licensing programs that try to control access to your code. The best known may be installshield. This is very common on Microsoft platforms. Also mentioned is flexlm, which unix sysadmins should find familiar.

The bottom line is given in the last chapter. A list of suggested best practices. None of which are guaranteed to offer absolute protection. But the cumulative applications of these practices should act as a good deterrent.

The only thing that seems to be missing is a discussion of code that comes on DVDs. He describes CDs. Surely by now some large code packages must come on DVDs. (Especially the games.)

Rating: 4
Summary: A very good start in the subject
Comment: Definetely, a must have if you want to write shareware. It's a pretty complete survey of methods and programs to protect your work.
I'd also want to point out the following:
1) I miss some crackmes in the companion CD.
2) In a next edition, that I hope gets released soon, It should include information specifically devoted to Windows XP and stuff. The section on softice might be too large in the current edition.
Let me insist, a must have.
Hope this help.

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