Archive for the 'Licensing and Piracy' Category
22% of Windows Installs Non-Genuine
Thursday, January 25th, 2007Microsoft disclosed Monday that over one in five Windows installations were deemed non-genuine through the company’s Windows Genuine Advantage program, which requires users to validate their operating system before downloading updates from the company. Since WGA launched in July 2005, over 512 million users have attempted to validate their copy of Windows, Microsoft said. Of [...]
Windows Vista Activation Cracked Yet Again
Friday, December 29th, 2006It was just a week ago that Microsoft’s Jim Allchin was talking about Windows Vista security and how the operating system would fend off attacks from malicious code and hackers. Allchin made no mention, however, of the recent successful attempts at cracking Windows Vista’s activation scheme.
The Frankenbuild monster
Saturday, December 16th, 2006Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen a number of attempts at workarounds for Vista product activation. As of now there are at least two distinct workarounds that have worked to some degree, but I’m sure there are more on the way. One of these workarounds we have affectionately named "frankenbuild" because [...]
Microsoft Updates Vista To Block Frankenbuild Counterfeits
Saturday, December 16th, 2006Microsoft on Thursday responded to hacks that break Windows Vista’s antipiracy protection by issuing an update that essentially kills some of the counterfeit copies.
"In the event illegal workarounds or other counterfeit Windows Vista code are posted to the Internet or become available through other means, Microsoft will take appropriate action to protect users from the [...]
Vista Crack Means Big Trouble
Thursday, December 14th, 2006In a somewhat deja vu circumstance, crackers may have put the kibosh on Windows Vista product activation, as they did before Microsoft made Windows XP’s widely available. The exploit doesn’t break Microsoft’s anti-piracy mechanism, but falsely activates some Windows Vista versions.
The Windows Vista crack, if definitely proven effective, is rather ingenious. Because I haven’t personally [...]
Microsoft Vista Antipiracy Security Hacked
Saturday, December 9th, 2006Hackers are distributing a file that they say lets users of the corporate version of Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system get around the software’s antipiracy mechanisms.
Windows Vista must be "activated," or authorized by Microsoft, before it will work on a particular machine. To simplify the task of activating many copies of Vista, Microsoft offers corporate [...]
Psst, Want Vista For Free?
Thursday, December 7th, 2006Oh dear, it looks as if the most feared scenario has already come true for Microsoft Windows Vista. Reports are revealing that pirated copies of Vista are making their way to BitTorrent sites. One report that I located recently stated that there is a copy of Vista floating around with an activation hack included to [...]
Illegal KMS server appears on the Internet
Wednesday, December 6th, 2006The business launch of Windows Vista is only a few days behind us and already the attempts to pirate Windows Vista are underway. Recently I stumbled on news of a rogue KMS servers that has appeared on the internet with information on how to activate a copy of Windows Vista VL against the server. [...]
Is Windows Vista uncrackable?
Wednesday, December 6th, 2006Almost as soon as Vista RTM was released, and well before it was available for download by MSDN subscribers, pirates had it up and available for download.
The pirated copy, released by a group called BillGates, wasn’t a true cracked version. Instead, it used activation files from the pre-RTM releases, enabling pirates to use older product [...]
Microsoft CEO Sees Less Piracy With Vista
Saturday, December 2nd, 2006Microsoft Corp. expects software piracy, which costs the company billions of dollars every year, to ease with the introduction of its new Windows Vista operating system and Office 2007 software suite, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Thursday.
Microsoft launched Windows Vista to businesses Thursday, releasing the first major upgrade in five years of its dominant operating [...]
