System and method for secure software installation

• US 6,725,205 B1
• Filed: 12/02/1999
• Issued: 04/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Ulysses ESD, Inc.
• Inventors: Garizas, Charles, Shah, Keyush Dhirajlal, Weiler, Jonathan Frederic
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes, John W.
• Application Number:
  US09/453,011
• Time in Patent Office: 1,601 Days
• Field of Search: 705/57, 705/56, 705/58, 705/59, 713/191, 713/1, 713/187, 713/200, 717/11
• US Class Current: 705/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/12 Protecting executable software

Abstract

A method secures software in a computer system that has one or more fixed disk drives. Each fixed disk drive is configured with a predetermined system serial number, such that each fixed disk drive has the same system serial number. Software is received with an associated target serial number. The associated target serial number is compared to the system serial number on every fixed disk drive. The file is installed when the system serial number on every fixed disk drive is the same as the associated target serial number. A computer program product embodies the method described above.

Claims

1. A method of securing software in a computer system having a plurality of fixed disk drives, comprising:

configuring a disk drive serial number of each fixed disk drive of the plurality of fixed disk drives with a predetermined system serial number, such that each fixed disk drive has the same predetermined system serial number;

receiving software with an associated target serial number;

determining whether the associated target serial number of the software is the same as the disk drive serial number on every fixed disk drive of the plurality of fixed disk drives; and

installing the software when the serial number on every fixed disk drive is the same as the associated target serial number of the software.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

periodically determining whether the associated target serial number of the software is the same as the disk drive serial number on every fixed disk drive; and

preventing the computer system from accessing the software when at least one of the fixed disk drives has a disk drive serial number different from the associated target serial number of the software.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said preventing uninstalls the software.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the computer system has a processor with a processor identifier, and the predetermined system serial number is the processor identifier.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing the software with the associated serial number on a removable disk, wherein said receiving retrieves the software with the associated serial number from the removable disk.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said receiving includes retrieving the software with the associated target serial number from a remote computer.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said receiving includes retrieving the software with the associated target serial number from a remote computer via the Internet.

8. A method of securing software in a computer system having a plurality of fixed disk drives, comprising:

encrypting a predetermined disk drive serial number to provide an encrypted predetermined disk drive serial number;

configuring each fixed disk drive with the encrypted predetermined disk drive serial number, such that each fixed disk drive has the same encrypted predetermined disk drive serial number;

receiving software with an associated encrypted target serial number;

decrypting the associated encrypted target serial number to provide a target serial number;

decrypting the encrypted disk drive serial number of every disk drive to provide a disk drive serial number for each fixed disk drive;

determining whether the target serial number is the same as the disk drive serial number for every fixed disk drive; and

installing the software when the target serial number is the same as the disk serial number on every fixed disk drive.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

periodically determining whether the associated target serial number is the same as the disk drive serial number on every fixed disk drive; and

preventing the computer system from accessing the software when at least one of the fixed disk drives has a disk drive serial number different from the associated target serial number.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said preventing uninstalls the software.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the computer system has a processor with a processor identifier, and the disk drive serial number is the processor identifier.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

storing the software with the target serial number on a removable disk, wherein said receiving retrieves the software with the target serial number from the removable disk.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein said receiving includes retrieving the software with the associated serial number from a remote computer.

14. The method of claim 8 wherein said receiving includes retrieving the software with the associated target serial number from a remote computer via the Internet.

15. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system having a plurality of fixed disk drives, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising:

a disk installation procedure that configures each hard disk drive with a predetermined disk drive serial number, such that each hard disk drive has the same predetermined disk drive serial number;

an authenticate disk procedure that determines whether the disk drive has a disk drive serial number that is the same as a target serial number associated with a specified file; and

a software installation procedure that

receives software with the associated target serial number;

calls the authenticate disk procedure; and

installs the software when the authenticate disk procedure determines that the disk drive serial number on every disk drive of the plurality of fixed disk drives is the same as the target serial number associated with the received software.

16. The computer program product claim 15 further comprising instructions that:

periodically invoke the authenticate disk procedure to determine whether the associated target serial number is the same as the disk drive serial number on every disk drive; and

prevent the computer system from accessing the software when at least one of the disk drives has a disk drive serial number different from the associated target serial number.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein said instructions that prevent uninstalls the software.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer system has a processor with a processor identifier, and the disk drive serial number is the processor identifier.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising:

instructions that store the software with the associated target serial number on a removable disk, wherein the software installation procedure retrieves the software with the associated target serial number from the removable disk.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the software installation procedure retrieves the software with the associated target serial number from a remote computer.

21. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the software installation procedure retrieves the software with the associated target serial number from a remote computer via the Internet.

22. A method of securing software in a computer system having a plurality of fixed disk drives, comprising:

configuring each fixed disk drive with a predetermined disk drive serial number, such that each fixed disk drive has the same disk drive serial number;

receiving software with a single associated target serial number;

determining whether the associated target serial number of the software is the same as a disk drive serial number on every fixed disk drive of the plurality of fixed disk drives; and

installing the software when the serial number on every fixed disk drive of the plurality of fixed disk drives is the same as the associated target serial number of the software.