Systems and Methods for Auditing Software Usage Using a Covert Key

• US 20100333207A1
• Filed: 06/18/2010
• Published: 12/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uniloc 2017 LLC (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Uniloc Luxembourg S.à r.l. (f/k/a Uniloc Luxembourg S.A.) (Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited)
• Inventors: Etchegoyen, Craig Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 9,129,097 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/105 Arrangements for software license management or administration, e.g. for managing licenses at corporate level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/12 Protecting executable software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/121 Restricting unauthorised execution of programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/00 Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units program control for peripheral devices G06F13/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3242 involving keyed hash functions, e.g. message authentication codes [MACs], CBC-MAC or HMAC

Abstract

System and method for auditing for usage of licensed software in which a client executing the software generates and transmits a license key and a covert key to a server via network connection. The license key is transmitted to the server upon activation of the licensed software at the client. The covert key is generated based on at least a portion of the software code activated at the client and is transmitted to the server at random or at predetermined time intervals after transmission of the licensed key so as to avoid detection by a user. The license and covert keys are each associated with a device fingerprint that uniquely identifies the device transmitting each one of the respective keys. Unauthorized software usage at a client is determined at least when a covert key does not correspond to a device fingerprint having an associated license key.

Claims

1. A system for auditing software usage comprising:

a network interface disposed to receive a device fingerprint associated with a covert key;

a memory holding program instructions operable for accessing a database storing a plurality of previously received device fingerprints associated with license keys and determining whether the device fingerprint associated with the covert key corresponds to any one of the plurality of previously received device fingerprints associated with license keys; and

a processor, in communication with the network interface and the memory, the processor configured for operating the program instructions.

2. A method for auditing software usage comprising:

receiving a device fingerprint associated with a covert key;

accessing a database storing a plurality of previously received device fingerprints associated with license keys; and

determining whether the device fingerprint associated with the covert key corresponds to any one of the plurality of previously received device fingerprints associated with license keys.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the covert key is generated based at least on a portion of the software that is unlocked by the license key.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the license keys each indicate unlock of at least a portion of software operating at a client device.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising indicating that unlicensed software usage has taken place upon determining that the device fingerprint associated with the covert key does not correspond to any one of the plurality of previously received device fingerprints associated with license keys.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising transmitting a disable key configured to prevent further use of the software at the client device originating the device fingerprint associated with the covert key.

7. A method for auditing software usage at a client device comprising:

sending, from a client device, an identifier for the software installed on the client device and a device fingerprint uniquely identifying the client device;

receiving a license key operable to unlock at least a portion of the software for use at the client device;

generating a covert key based on at least a portion of the software unlocked by the license key; and

sending the covert key and the device fingerprint.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the covert key is performed at a random time interval after the first sending step.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the covert key is performed at a random percent chance basis after the first sending step.

The method of claim 7, wherein the identifier for the software is a serial number.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising generating the device fingerprint based at least in part on a combination of at least one user-configurable parameter and at least one non-user configurable parameter.