DEV Community: ALernin

How to copy a software protection dongle

ALernin — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 19:14:51 +0000

The most efficient method of sharing a USB dongle over the Internet or a local network is with the dedicated functionality of the dongle copying software solution Donglify.

Donglify is a sophisticated software application that enables users to create a virtual copy of a USB license dongle so it can be accessed remotely over a network. All network connections are encrypted so data transmission is fully secured. The app even lets you share a single physical USB dongle simultaneously with multiple remote users.

The instructions provided below describe the three different ways of using protected software on a network by copying USB dongle keys. The software runs on the Windows platform and can be used in the following ways.

How to copy a USB dongle key

These steps enable a user to remotely connect to a computer with a physical connection to the required security key. Sharing the device across the network lets you use a virtual copy of a USB dongle to run the protected software resource from any remote location.

Create a Donglify account on the software’s website. After you create your account, download and install the software on the machine with the attached dongle (the server) and the computer that will access the USB dongle copy remotely (the client).

Start Donglify on the two machines and log into the software using identical credentials.

Click "+" on the server to open a window from which you can view the USB dongles that are available to be shared. Select the device you wish to use and click “Share”. USB copy protection dongles that display a “Multi-connect” icon can be shared simultaneously with multiple users.

Open Donglify on a client computer and locate the dongle shared by the server. After clicking “Connect”, the dongle key copy will be recognized by your system and give you the same level of functionality as if you were physically connected to the device.

Click “Disconnect” when you are finished using the dongle and the connection will be terminated.

Here is a video guide

Using a login token to share a USB dongle copy

Creating a token provides a secure digital key that can be shared with other users. Sharing a token with a colleague lets them use Donglify’s functionality without accessing your Donglify account. This keeps your personal information safe and gives you control over who can access a specific copy of a dongle key. If you delete a token, the individual using it is immediately logged out of the Donglify account.

Create a token using the following simple steps.

Log into your online Donglify account.
Open the “Tokens” tab and click on “Create Token”.
Choose a name for the token and click “Create”. It will immediately be listed and available to be shared.
Copy the token and share it with any users using a text message, email, or any other method.

If you need to delete the token, click the red “X” next to its creation date.

To use Donglify using a token, use these steps;

Download and install Donglify on the computer that will access the dongle remotely.
Start the application, provide the token, and log into the account.

Note: Token can be used simultaneously on multiple machines.

Watch the video guide to learn more about this process.

Sending invitations to other Donglify account owners

You can invite users to remotely access a security key. This enables you to keep your account details private while letting others access a security key remotely. Follow these steps to send an invitation to use a security key:

Physically attach the dongle to your computer. Launch Donglify and click “+” to view the devices that can be shared. Locate the key you want to share, check its radio button, and click “Share”.
Send an invitation directly to another user by typing the email address associated with another valid Donglify account and clicking the “+” icon. Donglify displays the email address and you will receive a “Connected” message when your invitation has been accepted.

When you want to end the remote session, click “More” next to the user’s email address and choose “Disconnect”.

Check out the video for more information

Who gets the most out of Donglify

Donglify is useful in a wide variety of situations and to a range of IT professionals.

Licensed software developers can distribute a product trial to many customers without sending them hardware dongles. This saves time and money and lets the developer control when the dongle is removed from the Internet, shutting down access to the software.

Large or medium business owners who have remote technical staffs and employees can benefit from maintaining their hardware dongles in a centralized location and sharing them remotely as they are needed.

Service providers who need to perform software maintenance for their customers can benefit from the remote access to security keys provided by Donglify and can provide clients with more customized service.

Owners of licensed software products protected with a USB security key benefit by having the ability to use their licensed software without needing to carry around an extra piece of hardware.

As you can see, copying a dongle can be important in a variety of situations. It greatly expands the utility of protected software by eliminating the need to have the security key physically present when using an application. With the help of Donglify, using protected software requiring security keys remotely becomes a simple process.

Copy USB dongles with just a couple of clicks!

ALernin — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 21:25:15 +0000

Users often need the ability to remotely connect to a licensed copy protection USB dongle. They may need to use the functionality of the protected software but be unable to physically connect to the dongle. If you are in this situation, you may be asking yourself if it’s possible to copy a USB security dongle.

The answer to that question is "Yes" if you are using a USB dongle copying solution like Donglify.

What is Donglify?

Donglify is a software solution that enables users to virtually copy a USB dongle key which eliminates the need to physically connect to the device. Donglify lets you make a copy of a USB dongle so it can be shared with any network-connected machine.

Let’s investigate the features of this dongle copying solution.

The software offers the ability to connect to multiple machines simultaneously when using a copy protection dongle. You can use the software to access a dongle from either a single computer or multiple machines at the same time, making it a flexible solution for diverse technical teams.
Using a virtual dongle copy helps protect the original security key from being lost or damaged. It can be safely connected to one computer and not be subjected to the wear and tear associated with physically sharing it between machines.
Donglify makes it easy to access a copy protection dongle from within a virtual environment. If your virtual machine does not recognize the physical dongle, you can create a virtual security key with this dongle copying software solution. You just need to install Donglify on both the host and guest operating systems.

Additional benefits provided by Donglify

The benefits of using Donglify for copying USB dongle keys include:

High-level security: 2048-bit SSL encryption keeps your virtual USB copy protection dongles safe when sharing them over a network.
Time and costs savings: Productivity gains are enjoyed by not having to physically swap dongles between machines. Losing or damaging dongles is minimized by reducing the number of times the devices are physically handled.
Access control: Granular control over who can access a USB dongle key is provided by Donglify.
Easy set-up: Installation and configuration take minimal time so you can get working quickly. There is no need for any extra software or hardware to share a security dongle copy over the network.

Donglify offers a multi-connect feature for the following models of security keys:

A Brief History of Dongles & Copy Protection

ALernin — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 09:56:30 +0000

Two general techniques can be used to provide copy protection for a software application. Programs can be protected digitally using software or physically with a copy protection dongle.

While using software may seem like a simpler method, keeping your software safe from piracy can be difficult. The software used to protect your program can be hacked, rendering it useless as a defensive measure.

Tenacious hackers can subvert the detection and encryption mechanisms put in place to keep them away from protected software resources. Using a physical form of defense like a USB copy protection dongle provides an additional level of security that must be breached to gain access to the projected resource. It’s not a perfect method but is widely used by software developers to protect their work.

Providing physical protection

A physical security solution was introduced in the 1980s in the form of dongle copy protection. Dongles are hardware devices that connect to a computer’s USB or I/O port. They are difficult to duplicate or crack and provide verification that a software product is valid for use.

Dongles are commonly constructed with the following three distinct components.

A custom processor that provides the dongle’s intelligence and functionality. The license credentials required to activate the protected software are stored here.
An interface to connect the device to a computer using its USB, serial, or parallel port.
A device driver to facilitate installation and communication between the dongle and the host computer.

Physically, a USB dongle is very much like a USB flash drive with the addition of a dedicated processor that gives it its necessary functionality.

A robust method of using a dongle with a software application is to have the program authenticate itself multiple times by accessing the device. Poorly implemented protection schemes may only query the dongle when the application is first started, resulting in a single potential source of failure. It is much easier for hackers to manipulate the code to gain unauthorized access to the protected software when only one check is made. A better solution makes multiple checks at various points in the program, not only at startup.

It can often be useful to copy a USB dongle so it can be used on multiple computers simultaneously. Teams may have unlimited access to a software product but only have a limited number of physical dongles available. By creating a virtual copy of a USB security dongle, a team of technicians can use the software at the same time.

Virtual copies of USB copy protection dongles also enable remote users to gain authorization to the protected resource. This can greatly improve productivity and make the protected software more valuable to an organization. With the increased focus on remote work these days, this may be the most important reason for copying a dongle key.