P R O D U C T
Universal Firm Code
The all-new Universal Firm Code provides the groundwork for the secure transfer of licenses without any involvement of the
original software vendor. The licenses for Universal Firm Codes are created by way of certificates, which use a completely new
process. It paves the way for transferring licenses between CmDongles and CmActLicenses or, soon, CmCloud.
Need for Transfer
The thinking behind the introduction of
Universal Firm Codes was to provide an
answer to the oft-voiced wish of software
vendors for a simpler way to transfer or
lend and borrow licenses. Up to now,
the permanent transfer of a license was
impossible without direct contact between
the user and the software vendor. There
is already a certain solution for temporary
transfers that works without this contact,
although it needs considerable preparation
on both sides, which has to be done all
over again whenever anything changes in
the license. In the end, this process may
result impractical and too costly in terms of
implementation and support.
Before we take a look at the new ways to
transfer licenses, it helps to consider the
mechanisms and the differences of current
Firm Codes.
One Firm Code per Developer
A Firm Code is the top entry level in a
CmContainer, either a CmDongle (hardware)
or a CmActLicense (software-based license).
The Firm Code is allocated to a specific ISV who
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has the exclusive right to change anything at
the lower levels. This allocation is guaranteed
by the Firm Code that each software vendor is
assigned by Wibu-Systems.
Up to now, the Firm Codes >100,000 were
available for hardware and >5,000,000 for
software-based activation. The new Universal
Firm Codes use the >6,000,000 range and
can be programmed for both CmDongles and
CmActLicenses. As soon as the CmCloud is
fully available, the licenses can be managed
just as easily from there.
No Compromise on Security
One of the reasons behind the old strict
distinction between Firm Codes for hardware
and software concerns security. The secure
environment of CodeMeter hardware
represents a safer vessel for licenses and
cryptographic keys than software solutions.
By its very nature, anything working on a
computer can be reproduced and extracted,
even if it requires massive efforts. That is why
software vendors are still allowed to define
exactly which CmContainers are allowed
with the new Universal Firm Codes. They can
also determine whether and where licenses
can be transferred. This is done by the
CmActId that is split into defined areas for
CmDongles (1***), CmActLicenses (2***),
and CmCloudContainers (3***). With these
settings, the licenses on the CmDongle can
be kept at the old level of security.
Software vendors can choose in which
environments their lice nses and keys are
available. This also enables them to set
different levels of protection for different
applications. While licenses for expensive
premium products might be limited to
CmDongles, leaner demo versions can be
operated with software trial licenses that can
simply be downloaded from the Internet.
Certificates for Secure Transfers
We are taking a completely new path for
creating licenses. Licenses are produced as
certificates under the X.509 standard. All
keys are stored with asymmetric encryption
so that only the CmContainer for which the
license was created can decrypt them again.
The queries and certificates are transmitted in
the established fashion via context and update
files (*.WibuCmRac / *.WibuCmRaU).