Editing Software cracking (section)

{{Short description|Modification of software, often to use it for free}}
{{multiple issues|
{{original research|date=September 2013}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2013}}
}}
[[File:Software crack illustration 20170116.jpg|thumb|Software crack illustration]]
{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2019}}

'''Software cracking''' (known as "breaking" mostly in the 1980s<ref name="kevelson198510">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/Ahoy_Issue_22_1985-10_Ion_International_US#page/n71/mode/2up |title=Isepic |work=Ahoy! |date=October 1985 |access-date=27 June 2014 |first=Morton |last=Kevelson |pages=71–73 |quote=The origin of the term probably lies in the activity burglars in the still of the night.}}</ref>) is an act of removing [[copy protection]] from a software.<ref name="Goode 2006"/>  Copy protection can be removed by applying a specific ''crack''. A ''crack'' can mean any tool that enables breaking software protection, a stolen product key, or guessed password. Cracking software generally involves circumventing licensing and usage restrictions on commercial software by illegal methods. These methods can include modifying code directly through disassembling and bit editing, sharing stolen product keys, or developing software to generate activation keys.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tulloch|first1=Mitch|title=Microsoft Encyclopedia of Security|date=2003|publisher=Microsoft Press|location=Redmond, Washington|isbn=0735618771|page=68|url=http://examples.oreilly.de/english_examples/9780735622180/cd_contents/Encyclopedia/EncySecur.pdf|access-date=July 20, 2014|archive-date=August 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810105820/http://examples.oreilly.de/english_examples/9780735622180/cd_contents/Encyclopedia/EncySecur.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Examples of ''crack''s are: applying a ''[[patch (computing)|patch]]'' or by creating reverse-engineered serial number generators known as ''[[keygen]]s'', thus bypassing software registration and payments or converting a trial/demo version of the software into fully-functioning software without paying for it.<ref name="Kammerstetter 2012">{{Cite book |last1=Kammerstetter |first1=Markus |last2=Platzer |first2=Christian |last3=Wondracek |first3=Gilbert |title=Proceedings of the 2012 ACM conference on Computer and communications security |chapter=Vanity, cracks and malware |date=2012-10-16 |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2382196.2382282 |language=en |location=Raleigh North Carolina USA |publisher=ACM |pages=809–820 |doi=10.1145/2382196.2382282 |isbn=978-1-4503-1651-4|s2cid=3423843 }}</ref> Software cracking contributes to the rise of [[online piracy]] where pirated software is distributed to end-users<ref name="Goode 2006"/> through filesharing sites like [[BitTorrent]], [[File hosting service#One-click hosting|One click hosting]] (OCH), or via [[Usenet]] downloads, or by downloading bundles of the original software with cracks or keygens.<ref name="Kammerstetter 2012"/>

Some of these tools are called [[keygen]], [[Patch (computing)|patch]], [[Loader (computing)|loader]], or [[no-disc crack]]. A keygen is a handmade product serial number generator that often offers the ability to generate working serial numbers in your own name. A patch is a small computer program that modifies the machine code of another program. This has the advantage for a cracker to not include a large executable in a release when only a few bytes are changed.<ref name=Craig2005>{{cite book |last1=Craig |first1=Paul |last2=Ron |first2=Mark |editor1-first=Mark |editor1-last=Burnett |others=Publisher: Andrew Williams, Page Layout and Art: Patricia Lupien, Acquisitions Editor: Jaime Quigley, Copy Editor: Judy Eby, Technical Editor: Mark Burnett, Indexer: Nara Wood, Cover Designer: Michael Kavish |title=Software Piracy Exposed - Secrets from the Dark Side Revealed |date=April 2005 |publisher=Syngress Publishing |location=United States of America |isbn=1-932266-98-4 |doi=10.1016/B978-193226698-6/50029-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/softwarepiracyex0000crai/page/75 75–76] |chapter=Chapter 4: Crackers |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/softwarepiracyex0000crai/page/75 }}</ref> A loader modifies the startup flow of a program and does not remove the protection but circumvents it.<ref name="flt-flow" /><ref name="cbm-loaders">{{cite journal|author1=Shub-Nigurrath [ARTeam]|author2=ThunderPwr [ARTeam]|date=January 2006|title=Cracking with Loaders: Theory, General Approach, and a Framework|journal=CodeBreakers Magazine|publisher=Universitas-Virtualis Research Project|volume=1|issue=1|quote=A loader is a program able to load in memory and running another program.}}<!-- http://www.codebreakers-journal.com -->
</ref> A well-known example of a loader is a [[Trainer (games)|trainer]] used to cheat in games.<ref name="cbm-oraculums">
{{cite journal |title=Guide on how to play with processes memory, writing loaders, and Oraculumns |first=Shub |last=Nigurrath |date=May 2006 |journal=CodeBreakers Magazine |publisher=Universitas-Virtualis Research Project |volume=1 |issue=2}}
</ref> [[Fairlight (group)|Fairlight]] pointed out in one of their [[.nfo]] files that these type of cracks are not allowed for [[warez scene]] game releases.<ref>{{cite web |title=Test_Drive_Ferrari_Legends_PROPER-FLT |author=FLT |author-link=Fairlight (group) |date=2013-09-29 |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Test_Drive_Ferrari_Legends_PROPER-FLT |quote=Test.Drive.Ferrari.Racing.Legends-SKIDROW was released with a "Loader" and not a cracked exe. This is why you see the original exe renamed to "TDFerrari_o.exe". As this is not allowed and in this case considerably slows down the game with Xlive messages while starting and playing the game, you can see why we have included a proper cracked. |access-date=September 13, 2014 |archive-date=September 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914024017/http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Test_Drive_Ferrari_Legends_PROPER-FLT |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- These next two references are there to situate the context, and supplement the first ref --><ref name="flt-flow">{{cite web |title=The_Sims_3_70s_80s_and_90s_Stuff-FLT |author=FLT |author-link=Fairlight (group) |date=2013-01-22 |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/The_Sims_3_70s_80s_and_90s_Stuff-FLT |quote=This can be the only reason you have come to the conclusion that a modified startup flow is the same like the imitated behavior of a protection, like an EMU does it. |access-date=September 13, 2014 |archive-date=September 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914043507/http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/The_Sims_3_70s_80s_and_90s_Stuff-FLT |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Test.Drive.Ferrari.Racing.Legends.Read.Nfo-SKIDROW |author=SKIDROW |author-link=List of warez groups#SKIDROW |date=2013-01-21 |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Test.Drive.Ferrari.Racing.Legends.Read.Nfo-SKIDROW |quote=Yes our "method" is a loader and our competitors have used the same method for "cracking" xlive games like this. |access-date=September 13, 2014 |archive-date=September 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914024719/http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Test.Drive.Ferrari.Racing.Legends.Read.Nfo-SKIDROW |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[Nuke (warez)#Nukewars|nukewar]] has shown that the protection may not kick in at any point for it to be a valid crack.<ref>
 {{cite web |url=https://pre.corrupt-net.org/?qid=D02 |title=Batman.Arkham.City-FiGHTCLUB nukewar |date=2011-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913223643/https://pre.corrupt-net.org/search.php?search=Batman.Arkham.City+-history&ts=1410647801447&pretimezone=0&timezone=0 |archive-date=2014-09-13 |url-status=live |quote=UNNUKED: game.plays.full no.issues crack.is.fine no.single.byte.patch.used protection.bypass.means.not.active.means.removed protection.does.not.kick.in.at.any.point this.or.removal.makes.no.difference [ZoNeNET]}}</ref><!-- http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Batman.Arkham.City.Game.of.The.Year.Edition.MULTi9-PROPHET "All previous cracks for this game were loaders" -->

Software cracking is closely related to [[reverse engineering]] because the process of attacking a copy protection technology, is similar to the process of reverse engineering.<ref name=":0" /> The distribution of cracked copies is illegal in most countries. There have been lawsuits over cracking software.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/business/2006/09/7849/ |title=Microsoft files lawsuit over DRM crack |first=Jacqui |last=Cheng |date=2006-09-27 |website=[[Ars Technica]] |access-date=June 15, 2017 |archive-date=July 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715004556/http://arstechnica.com/business/2006/09/7849/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It might be legal to use cracked software in certain circumstances.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.woodmann.com/fravia/legal.htm |title=Is reverse engineering legal? |date=November 1998 |author=Fravia |author-link=Fravia  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305155236/http://www.woodmann.com/fravia/legal.htm |archive-date=5 March 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Educational resources for reverse engineering and software cracking are, however, legal and available in the form of [[Crackme]] programs.