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The risks of VMWare and how it works with software copy protection
By Jon Gillespie-Brown | February 24, 2008
INTRODUCTION
As we all know VMware is an excellent tool for developers, especially for testing and cloning.
The problem lies with the last word, cloning. This is like the problem we encounter with the use of disk backup programs like Ghost. These programs make a copy of a partition and the MBR and then end users have a re-usable image of the authorized programs on that machine. They can then install working copies on all their other machines and distribute the products to others.
The one key area that VMware differs from this scenario is that VM’s do not interact directly with the operating system like a partition backup. In simple terms they create a virtual space that ‘spoofs’ the responses that would have come from an operating system and so we have to protect against the threat in a different way.
So Nalpeiron came up with a way to detect and prevent the activation (authorization) of licenses on machines with VMware (and VirtualPC) that is selectable by our developers to prevent the use of “cloning” as a way to pirate your software.
TECHNICAL ISSUES WITH VMWARE TYPE SYSTEMS
We did not and cannot come up with a way to run inside a Virtual machine unless we have the source code to that environment or the manufacturer releases a specific way for the VM to access the operating system. We have requested this assistance but so far the likes of VMware will not release what we need to be able to develop a copy protection system to run under a VM and nor can any else for the same reasons.
The Nalpeiron Licensing Service makes calls to the operating system, processes the results, and then makes other calls to the operating system, doing among other things, storing encrypted license information. If a virtual machine or emulator fails to supply needed information or perform any of the other tasks requested then the Nalpeiron Licensing Service will not work.
The Nalpeiron Licensing Service is designed to work on hardware (such as PCs under Windows 2000, XP, and VISTA plus Mac OSX operating systems) and not directly within virtual machines or emulators of any sort. This includes Macintosh computers running Windows. While it may work with some emulators and/or virtual machines, that performance is not guaranteed and my not continue when the publisher of those products makes any changes.
It is safest to assume that highly secure copy protection systems will not perform properly in these environments due to the technical limitations outlined.
HOW THE NALPEIRON SOLUTION WORKS
Nalpeiron provides function calls built into our copy protection checks for the use of VM’s and so there is no programming required.
You get two options when creating a Custom DLL, either block VMware or not.
If you select block VMware, the copy protection will cease to function and display an error message when detecting a VM (VMware and Vpc).
If you don’t block VMware then you can install under a VM environment but you have no protection as outlined in this document. This means that the application will install fine but if the user clones a VM then they will be able to re-use that cloned copy of the program any way they choose, the copy protection cannot prevent illicit use.
The Nalpeiron function, when used, essentially alerts the developer to the presence of VMware and allows you to block an activation event as a result. This then prevents the install of the working software on a machine and this in turn prevents a copy of the Authorized Version being cloned and used by others.
USING VMWARE TYPE SYSTEMS FOR TESTING COPY PROTECTION
The issue is deeper than this however, as many of our customers have asked if they can still use VMware for testing purposes. The problem with using a VM system test is that it runs it in a precisely defined environment.
It is useful for testing a non-copy protected application for functionality under different versions of Windows, but has only extremely limited benefit for testing anything to do with copy protection. Useful test results for copy protection can only come from running the copy protected product in a lot of very different computers and versions of Windows; the more the better.
VMware gives developers a false since of security since for copy protection purposes the VM actually prevents direct access to the operating system and only “emulates” the results which may or may not be true for the protection.
Some other copy protection products appear to work with virtual machines but in these cases all they do is get some basic piece of easy-to-get information then store it in an encrypted file. In this day and age, that is no protection at all.
THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INSTALLATION ON VMWARE
Anybody with VMware can upload onto the web a binary(s) that can be downloaded and will run a protected program on any computer. While this method is not stripping the protection from a product, it is doing the next best thing.
Also, assuming somebody is not saving the VMware environment onto a flash drive, demos will run forever.
The bottom line is that it is not only effectively stripping the protection from a product, it is setting up a huge number of customer complaints because of lost activations, and it is allowing unlimited demos. Once a cloned demo or product is out in the “wild” it is essentially open for use by anyone. Developers beware!
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February 24th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Jason Rakowski