PureBasic Forums - English

Finally, the long promissed Beta of Kript-On is out. Kript-On is mostly written in PB, and I would like to thank many for their help in my various posts.
srod and netmaestro stand out especially for their patience.

What is Kript-On?

Kript-On is an online (and offline) activation and protection system with remote update mechanism
Kript-On creates unique serial numbers which are then bound to the client. The developer can then monitor the
status of his keys and change online parameters or status (ie mark stolen) this feature giving unique flexibility.
Thus developer can code in advance future parameters (easter eggs). This will make it very hard for hackers to debug,
as it will not be possible to debug until developer updates My Kript-On Account

Features

- Can work with additonal packer/protection programs such as Themilda, Execryptor and Armadillo
- Online and Offline activation
- User defined parameters can be changed online at any time
- Marking a key as stolen deactivates remote program(s)
- Hardware lock
- Maximum expiry date
- Runcount limitation
- Open mode (same parameters for all keys) or Personalised mode (each key has its own parameters)

Known Bugs

- Display erratic after pressing "k"
- Same challenge sequence generated per seed for all client codes
- masterfil.dat corrupts if connection error happens
- inability to have multiple co-operative masterfile.dat (with different master keys)
- open file does not load kripton.db properly
- Does not work properly on Vista

Todo

- talkback feature
- Vista compatibility
- Faster encryption process

Partecipating in the beta

To partecipate is easy. Register yourself with the website www.kript-on.net. When your account has been enabled proceed to the purchase page
and choose any of the free packages. Then follow the instructions in the emails you recieve.

Whats included in the Kript-On package

The package contain the
- kripton.dll (redistributable dll with your application)
- kripton generator
- PB4 include file
- PB4 example program

How to use it

Presently there is only a PB example.
As presented in the example program, you will need to define a callback function. You will need to call "CHECK" at least
6 times before kripton is effective and communication will happen through the callback function.
Please follow the example. It is possible to have multiple callback functions and change them on the fly.
Should you have questions or contribtions you can post them to the forum on www.kript-on.net.
If you plan to use the included PB example change line

Global gCCode.s = "SZ3B36"

to your own code

If you wish to use same challenge set sequence, set seed to 100

thats all folks!

Update: 28/Sep/2007

-Fixed 1 of issues with Vista. Activation works in offline mode
-Debug version of DLL available on request (allows debug + log trace from kripton.dll)

To get new DLL just "purchase" some more new keys
You Do NOT need to reactivate the Kripton generator

If there's a known bug about vista, then I guess this statement on your site should be updated..

Which programming languages are supported?

kript-on works with all programming languages which can utilize windows DLL.
kript-on works on all Windows versions (Windows 2000, XP Home and Pro, Vista 32/64 and Windows XP 64, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2003 32/64 bit server).

Is there a kripton lib that can be used with PB instead of a dll? Thanks.

no, only DLL there is no PB lib
re Vista, problems will be fixed for release

cheers

I am a bit surprised by the lack of interest towards this product.
Are there possibly no comments from the PB community?

No offence kinglestat, but putting out a product with known bugs in it was a bit of a show-stopper for me. I was waiting for you to fix these bugs before taking a good look. On paper at least this product looks very good.

I don't mind testing / reviewing a piece of software in order to help find bugs etc. but in this case I'd rather wait until you fixed the ones you already knew about.

As I say, no offence intended, but you did ask why you'd had a lack of interest. I don't know, but others may have felt the same way as I.

Yeah, srod is correct...

- Display erratic after pressing "k"
- masterfil.dat corrupts if connection error happens
- open file does not load kripton.db properly
- Does not work properly on Vista

these are pretty bad showstoppers really.

This looks interesting.

- Does not work properly on Vista

Thats why

Well, *** I *** don't work properly on Vista either, but that has never stopped me

ah

in my country we say that the question is the root of all wisdom
I assumed nobody was interested.

Well so let me fill you in with what is happening

-First of all the website will have the functionality to create the same kripton.db files as produced by the GUI
-more control and info on the website
-yes the bug fixes
-examples in C/C++
-Documentation

but its not as simple as that

I can't keep beta (which will become a form of demo) same as release
The release has a faster and extremely improved encryption using blended encryption engines with rotary keys.

There will also be the talkback feature which allows developer to send a message to server (a screenshot will automatically be generated) for support purposes.

Expected release is end of October 2007

kinglestat wrote:Finally, the long promissed Beta of Kript-On is out. Kript-On is mostly written in PB

For me personally, a lib is more impressive and attractive than a DLL. I think a lib provides a more elegant outcome for the developer (one app & no extra DLLs to have floating around). However sometimes this is not possible of course, but it's the ideal situation.

The reason there is no pb lib for kripton is one of security. A pb lib is very hard to secure, hence it would be much easier for a hacker to debug...then reverse engineer..and worse add to his own code.

In any case mskuma there are many DLL bundlers around...XBundler for example. So you only distribute 1 exe as you prefer.

A lot of thought went into this. With this method you are free to use multiple security tools antihacking/code virtualizers/bundlers + online activation with online updates. Best of both worlds and twice the fun. And that much harder for the hackers who have to tackle both systems.

ok (about lib's being risky) fair enough.. I am not qualified to judge. I have a concern that it's hard to understand your eventual business model of your system from your site. It sounds like one has to purchase a pack of serial numbers. I think it's fair to outline this model some more before people go to the trouble to register, debug & test your system. Another issue, which is similar to the mreg situation, is that some developers are happier if they can manage the serials database themselves. It seems you're handling the database on your side which might be perceived as a risk for the developer.

Good point; was wondering about that myself. It could work quite nicely, but as you say, some clarification needed there.

presently, the selling model is developers purchase keys which are valid for 2 years. Beta testers and helpers will be given free keys. Key Packs will be 10/50/200/500 keys. For large keys (over 10,000 keys) a DLL wrapper is planned for next year to be used in IIS or Apache for managing their own keys and database.

2 points:

From the amount of work on the website, for non volumonous amounts of keys, developers will not find it worth it, and offline activation will be manual for them. But for sure if the plan large amounts (10k+) no probs. No price yet but it will not be free.

Secondly, the direction of this project is to keep enhancing the web portal, and push tools and features developers need through it...and more importantly, help developers sell their products safely online.

One of the purposes of this thread is to know your views. At the end of the day, if it can help you, and you can have the feature you desire most, it is up to me to make it happen.

What I can say is the following: one of the reasons piracy is so rife and succesful, is that pirates collaborate much more than developers. With Kript-On I would like to show that developers can collaborate too. This is why I didnt design it with "use-only-my-way". And it is also why I am pursuing other programming languages just as hard.