A Bangalore [India] programmer has managed to break Microsoft’s anti-counterfeiting system called Windows Genuine Advantage.
A Bangalore [India] programmer has managed to break Microsoft’s anti-counterfeiting system called Windows Genuine Advantage.
Well, I’m not. What one person locked, other can unlock. 🙂
no but the next version of windows will be secure.
It is securet. Everything’s secure before release. After that, well, article says it all. 😉
The next version is always secure. It’s only when the “next” version becomes the “current” version that it gets broken.
Can someone clarify the microsoft comments of “little threat”?
“little threat”
means we are working our ass off to figure out how to stop it and are dismissing it as “little threat” so no one thinks we are working on this hole as fast as possible…
Since you need an actual valid copy of Windows to have WGA generate the key to be then used on your pirated copy of Windows, I’d not say this is much of a crack.
From the ‘crack’ itself:
6. After downloading “GenuineCheck.exe”, run it on the machine running a genuine copy of Windows XP. It will generate a code which is used for WGA validation. Copy the code and use the same code to validate a pirated copy of Windows XP and bypass the WGA.
Sure, they could fix this by locking the validation process entirely to an ActiveX control in IE, but then everyone else not using IE would likely be irked. So yeah, it’s a ‘little threat’ due to requiring a valid XP install to begin with.
How can someone say that this is a threat? All this person did was to run GenuineCheck.exe on a machine with Genuine Windows XP installation and copy pasted the key in pirated windows.
How is it different from buying one product from any company with a installation key and using it to install multiple copies? Hell you can even use Windows Key to activate multiple copies.
This is no threat and doing this still keeps the copy illegal.
So, then the wga is really strong. Kudos to microsoft for their almost unbreakable copy protection scheme.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the next version of windows is cracked before it even comes out.
Is that the copies of Windows activated in this way mysteriously completely corrupt their data 90 days later without warning, spewing forth bits that when decoded, spell out “this software was obtained illegally!”
u call this a major crack?..OMFG……this is nothing…even a kid will do…c’mon osnews…pl stop posting such stupid news…the crack and article carries nothing
It may not be a crack/hack/whatever, but it is signifigant since this method was supposed to be fool proof in microsoft’s eyes and something this simple should have been detected on their end long before its public debut.
Someone can generate a load of keys and flood the crack sites with them insuring that no one need by a legitimate version of Windows. Pretty much the status quo.
Maybe they should stop using the term “Windows” in the name – Everybody knows that it breaks anytime someone throws a stone at it…
Very secure heh? Sack the manager.
AFAIR, the generated code is active for short time only. If someone generates a load of keys they all go useless in a day or so. LOL, but of course if you have nothing to do you can use you legitimate version of Windows to generate codes 24/7.
It should be renamed the GNU/Linux Genuine Advantage program. When MS OS userrs realize that they have to actually pay money to use Windows, they may come looking for an alternative. Since Syllable isn’t ready for general consumption, they may check out a GNU/Linux disto.
Thanks again for the help MS! We get more and more free software users every day.
you can use this to somehow emulate a valid Windows install to fool WGA without the need of actually having a legal installed copy. Something like a external program that you startup before going to the MS website, which cuts in during the check and fools the system, thus letting you download whatever you want.
It might be hard to do but who knows, i’m sure people are working on it though, somewhere.
Until soemthing like that comes out though, this isn’t really anything big, besides MS will still let pirated copys download security updates, so unless you want to download some other stuff, i don’t see the big deal.
Wouldn’t it be fun to hook genuinecheck.exe into a CGI on a webserver and hand out codes on the fly? It probably wouldn’t last too long before MS came knocking, but it would be a fun project to hack.
That has been known on other forums. This guy isn’t the first.
You can pay for a Linux distro if you’re so inclined. You can donate to the BSD projects. But why the heck would you want to use the proprietary Microseft system, paid for or not? Horrible security track record, abysmal stability, zero interoperability with standards without 3rd party add-ons (NFS, X, kerberos, etc) and only runs on the proprietary x86 pentio systems.
At least for those that need to run MS Office in WineHQ.
“AFAIR, the generated code is active for short time only. If someone generates a load of keys they all go useless in a day or so.”
There are keys at crack sites for various versions of Windows that have been up for a long time and still work.
HA-HA
/Simpsons
I first learnt of this on a previous osnews story:
http://osnews.com/comment.php?news_id=10946&limit=no#392045
[which links to: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/22/2221254&tid=109&tid=99)
Hey, news goes around and comes around. C’est la vie.
“But why the heck would you want to use the proprietary Microseft system, paid for or not? Horrible security track record, abysmal stability, zero interoperability with standards without 3rd party add-ons…”
One word: Games
I’ve said it a hundred times, I’m sure I’ll say it a hundred more. Until some distro or distros convince (or pay) some big game developers to make games that run FAST in linux, forget linux on the desktop. It will be used by enthusiasts, but not by the majority.
Maybe having MacOSX going to intel will speed this up. Until then, pray for games.
“One word: Games”
One word reply: game consoles. Much cheaper and a lot more powerful.
“Yeah, God forbid anybody actually pays for the software they use. After all, people who develop software as a full-time job don’t need to eat – fuck ’em.”
You must be very young, otherwise you’d remember when no developer would dream of asking money for a program. Were they starving? I don’t think so (I knew some of them).
Then came M$ and developers began to believe they had a God given right to be millionaires, fck the users.
Good job that all developers are not the same.
Yeah, God forbid anybody actually pays for the software they use. After all, people who develop software as a full-time job don’t need to eat – fuck ’em.
Anyway, if you ever wonder why hardly anybody wants to develop commercial software for Linux, well … here ya go.
..an interesting comment considering this topic is all about ways to get around having to pay for Windows in the first place. But feel free to whine endlessly about how Linux is contributing to starve the planet Darius. Despite the number of times you bring it up it just never gets boring…
You must be very young, otherwise you’d remember when no developer would dream of asking money for a program. Were they starving? I don’t think so (I knew some of them).
Then came M$ and developers began to believe they had a God given right to be millionaires, fck the users.
So if you want to spend all of your free time writing code for a bunch of cheap bastards who refuse to pay for anything, that’s fine. But what I can’t figure out is what exactly is wrong with writing programs and asking money for them?
Some would say ‘Nothing, as long as the source code is included’, but we have already established on this site (on more than one occassion) that unless you can sell service/suport or hardware to go along with the software, you can’t really make a living writing open source apps.
“One word reply: game consoles.”
That’s not one word
>>You can pay for a Linux distro if you’re so inclined. You can donate to the BSD projects. But why the heck would you want to use the proprietary Microseft system, paid for or not?
Millions of important reasons,
Applications, Applications and Applications
Windows is better than people give it credit for. The major reason it has so many virus problems is because it hold over 90% of the OS market. And it’s not like MS is not working to make XP better all of the time…I used to believe in free software, but it does not stack up, especially in business, big time.
Dano.
“So if you want to spend all of your free time writing code for a bunch of cheap bastards who refuse to pay for anything, that’s fine.”
How far apart our worlds are, my friend. We live in different planets. How much did Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci (to mention just a few) charged you for their work? And yet you can enjoy it for free (books and CDs are only media you pay for, but you can go to a library)
“But what I can’t figure out is what exactly is wrong with writing programs and asking money for them?”
Nothing at all if M$ and all the people like you stopped attacking and bashing the open source model, as if nothing good could come out of it.
“unless you can sell… hardware to go along with the software, you can’t really make a living writing open source apps.”
That is indeed the way it used to be (and still is in some cases)
Dano. You said Windows is better than people give it credit for. I would qualify that more. Windows is better than OSS whiners give it credit for. Most people use Windows. Most of those are happy with it. If only 10% of those that use Windows aren’t happy with it and 10% of those whinge on these sites that’s a lot of whinging.
So you use the enjoy the work of DaVinci, Beethoven etc. now for free. How about you wait hundreds of years after Bill Gates dies and then use Windows and see if he sues you. Not really comparing apples with apples, is it?
“Windows is better than people give it credit for. The major reason it has so many virus problems is because it hold over 90% of the OS market.”
Well, tell that people who get their business disrupted every day. And please don’t tell me the same old story: I can assure you, they take all the necessary precautions.
“So you use the enjoy the work of DaVinci, Beethoven etc. now for free. How about you wait hundreds of years after Bill Gates dies and then use Windows and see if he sues you. Not really comparing apples with apples, is it?”
Not quite true, because you can go to a museum, gallery…and enjoy contemporary art for free.
Or you can switch your radio on and listen to modern music (most countries don’t have a “radio licence”)
>>Well, tell that people who get their business disrupted every day. And please don’t tell me the same old story: I can assure you, they take all the necessary precautions.
My business completely runs on Windows, and we have not had any problems in years (8 years). Our newer machines are running XP, but older ones are running Win NT 4.0. We have one very old machine working to upload text files to machinery that runs Windows 98…all machines are networked and running nice. We periodically install security updates, which bacome availalble automatically, even for the 98 machine. We run good antivirus and have good quality hardware…we have found that cheap hardware often causes the majority of Windows problems, no RAID and cheap MOBOs are usually the cause. We are a small comany, but build most of our machines with ASUS, ATI and CORSAIR parts, which work well. We also RAID every new machine. The old machines we have are a mix of Dells and older clones…
We tried Linux and will not switch because the Office Applications are so useful. We tried the new Solaris, but could not get it to run on most of our machines. When it comes to business, most people (Linux Zelots) point out virus’ and the like, but do not address the fact that we are using Adobe, Publisher, Word, Excel, CAD programs, specialized design programs and other little applications that work everyday…have hardware (printers and backup devices) that only have Windows drivers, UPS’s with support software only for Windows…I mean you can’t just switch applications and OS’s wholesale and retrain everyone on new apps for priciple…we have to get work out to make money not fool around with computer systems for the hell of it. Windows can be damn stable and serviceable with proper administration.
If we could have the same apps on other platforms with little switchover pains we would consider something else, but things are working just fine. MAC hardware might be a very stable hardware to run XP on in the future for us.
Dano.
>>Well, tell that people who get their business disrupted every day. And please don’t tell me the same old story: I can assure you, they take all the necessary precautions.
What type of precautions, anti virus, auto updates and good hardware (with RAID). These three things make the Windows environment solid for business.
Dano.
>>Well, tell that people who get their business disrupted every day. And please don’t tell me the same old story: I can assure you, they take all the necessary precautions.
>>What type of precautions, anti virus, auto updates and good hardware (with RAID). These three things make the Windows environment solid for business.
I notice that the average user in the business world (outside of the computer industry) know little about what is going on with their machines. The first words out of the mouth of a confused user is “it must be a virus or something…I can’t get the computer to do…XYZ”. It is really because they have not put any time into learning the application. Also, many companies really skimp bad on the hardware side, buying the cheapest shit PCs available and then wondering why they experience data loss and crashes (which XP has pretty much solved in my mind).
Dano.
Words, words, words…
But they will do nothing to refund a travel agent here who last week lost several days of work.
And yes, he *was* very well protected and much of what you say was not applicable in his case.
Personally I blame only lazy/lousy sysadministrators who don’t care about learning safer operating systems.
“Not quite true, because you can go to a museum, gallery…and enjoy contemporary art for free. ”
No, no, no! you people don’t get it!
Make a decent comparison and come back!
Most famous modern artists are filthy rich compared to the average working person.
Try taking that painting home with you, and tell me it’s free. Try slightly modifying the painting and say its partly yours and try making copies of the painting and see if it’s all free still. jeez. Remember old 4th grade comparisons? a is to b as c is to d….
“Try taking that painting home with you, and tell me it’s free. Try slightly modifying the painting and say its partly yours and try making copies of the painting and see if it’s all free still”
What you’re missing is that I can walk out of a gallery, get into my car and drive home, picking up some paints and a canvas on the way, sit down and recreate exactly what I’ve just seen and give away copies to all my friends. So long as I don’t claim they are by the original painter I’m in the clear. Take a look at eBay for some very good reproductions of famous artworks.
I think the analogy was a good one.