Posting Etiquitte?

[Jeff Brown]

I hear people say not to multipost, does these mean not to ask the same
question in another group or to submit the question to all the groups via
the same submission, with multiple newsgroups in the "send to" box? Just a
curious question from someone who has only googled and altavista'd since the
beginning of time.

Jeff

[Fergus Cooney]

Hi Nick, Mark,

|| http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gr....html#snakeoil

#snakeoil - LOL.

Regards,
Fergus

[Fergus Cooney]

Hi Guys,

Here's one cracker's view - [name changed to reduce the infamy].

[ps. For anyone who disapproves of me posting this publicly - this
material and much more like it (and 'better') is readily available out there.]

<quote>
Hi All!
I'm Stoopid The Cracker and In This Tutorial I'll Explain you How To Crack
Any type of registration protection.
First of all.Use Softice cause i don't like Live Approch.
Ok
Run Your target program and go on the registration dialog,then put
in the dialog any name and any serial number but DON'T press OK
before press "control+d" to pops up softice and in softice sets some
Break points.......fo r approching with a registration routine we must
breakpoint on api(windows functions) used to read Your name and Your
Sn.
They are
Getwindowtext
GetwindowtextA
Getdlgitemtext
GetdlgitemtextA
Hmemcpy (that's not an api but it's the best)

Well the "A" after the api means 32 bit so if your program is 32 bit
put the A if not don't.Easy!
I always use only Hmemcpy cause it runs 99,9% of the times.
Well now exit from softice by pressing control+d and press ok,if you have set
a working bpx softice will pops up.

Now start the real cracking.....
Press F12 until you can read on the bottom line of SoftIce the name
of the file of the program you're cracking....
then if before your location there's a call ok,if not press again F12 until
you find it.
Then you must step into the code.....(by pressing F10),if in your stepping you
find some
condictional jumps have a look at them......btw step until you find a call
that prompt you
something like a messagebox or something else that prompt you the "You
entered a Wrong code",
well before that call you noticed a condictional jump that jumped on that call
or dindn't jump
over that call....if yes try to inverse the jump (change a jz into a jnz)
or (a better way) change the value of the eip in order to make that jump to
jump or not.
Doing this if you find the good jump the program must prompt you "Thank for
Registering this
fucked program",
now the crack is near to the end...
Often cracking this way you will only prompt the "You Are Regged" but the
program still continue
to be unregged so in order to crack it 100% and easly there are 2 ways

1) trace into the call BEFORE our important condictional jump and try to
understand the code,
in order to find the real compare instrucion that often is kept in this call
not out....if
you find out our real compare instruction,and change the below condictional
jump in order to
make it jump or not(it depends if it before jumped or not,do the reverse).
Ok now the program should be fully cracked!

2) this is a worse way than the first but it works!This way is easyer for
beginners
You must trace into the call before our important codictional jmp,and then put
a bpx in its first line,then press "x" and exit from softice and use the
program in all its functions,creat e new,open,about, save, and when softice pops
up press "f12" in order to get out that call and look for a near condictional
jump and try to inverse it and look if the program looks like regged, you must
sign up all these condictional jump and inverse it,and your program is
cracked!

Stoopid the Cracker

</quote>

The point is that it is very easy to bypass any security where there is
any easily identifiable and accessible central point. The two best types of
protection are methods that are impossible to crack through sheer
sophistication (whatever that might entail and whenwver someone designs one)
and those that are simply too much effort or too fuzzy.

I would favour a distributed approach where detection of illegality in the
registration or files, etc, leads to a delayed degradation of services, say a
random number of hours/days/keypresses/etc after detection - implemented by
changing encoded settings/menus, or whatever. This means that a hacker would
have to be very dedicated, methodical and patient - and he can never release
the cracked product without wondering if there is some two-week time-bomb
still waiting to disable the program.

The initial registration procedure would make it <very clear> that
tampered-with program <will> fail and include a well-worded disclaimer.

Such a scheme is a challenge to design and implement, probably hell to
test, too - but even more of a challenge to break. ;-)

Regards,
Fergus

[Cor]

Hi Fergus, mostly this is true,

Tell someone "You cannot and..........

Such a scheme is a challenge to design and implement, probably hell to
test, too - but even more of a challenge to break. ;-)

And not to forget the times your nice protection scheme goes wrong.
Activate a helpdesk for that.

I've heard many times that people had problems with Internet.
Often that was because the firewall did close everything.
But it has a benefit, you don't get spam
:-))
Cor