A key generator (keygen) is a

computer program A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to Execution (computing), execute. It is one component of software, which also includes software documentation, documentation and other intangibl ...

that generates a product licensing key, such as a

serial number A serial number (SN) is a unique identifier used to ''uniquely'' identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially. Despite being called serial "numbers", they do not need to be strictly numerical and may contain letters ...

, necessary to activate for use of a

software application Application software is any computer program that is intended for end-user use not computer operator, operating, system administration, administering or computer programming, programming the computer. An application (app, application program, sof ...

. Keygens may be legitimately distributed by software manufacturers for licensing software in commercial environments where software has been licensed in bulk for an entire site or enterprise, or they may be developed and distributed illegitimately in circumstances of

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

or software piracy. Illegitimate key generators are typically programmed and distributed by software crackers in the

warez scene The Warez scene, often referred to as The Scene, is an underground network of piracy groups specialized in obtaining and illegally releasing digital media before their official release date. The Scene distributes all forms of digital media, incl ...

. These keygens often play music (taking from the tradition of cracktros), which may include the genres

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

, chiptunes, sampled loops or anything that the programmer desires. Chiptunes are often preferred due to their small size. Keygens can have artistic user interfaces or kept simple and display only a cracking group or cracker's logo.

Software licensing

software license A software license is a legal instrument governing the use or redistribution of software. Since the 1970s, software copyright has been recognized in the United States. Despite the copyright being recognized, most companies prefer to sell lic ...

is a legal instrument that governs the usage and distribution of computer software. Often, such licenses are enforced by implementing in the software a

product activation Product activation is a license validation procedure required by some proprietary software programs. Product activation prevents unlimited free use of copied or replicated software. Unactivated software refuses to fully function until it ''determi ...

digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures, such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM ...

(DRM) mechanism, seeking to prevent unauthorized use of the software by issuing a code sequence that must be entered into the application when prompted or stored in its configuration.

Key verification

Many programs attempt to verify or validate licensing keys over the Internet by establishing a session with a licensing application of the software publisher. Advanced keygens bypass this mechanism, and include additional features for key verification, for example by generating the validation data which would otherwise be returned by an activation server. If the software offers phone activation then the keygen could generate the correct activation code to finish activation. Another method that has been used is activation server emulation, which patches the program memory to "see" the keygen as the ''de facto'' activation server.

Multi-keygen

A multi-keygen is a keygen that offers key generation for multiple software applications. Multi-keygens are sometimes released over singular keygens if a series of products requires the same

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

for generating

product key A product key, also known as a software key, serial key or activation key, is a specific software-based key for a computer program. It certifies that the copy of the program is original. Product keys consist of a series of numbers and/or letters ...

s. These tools simplify the process of obtaining activation keys for users who need access to various software products within the same suite or developed by the same company. By integrating the algorithms for multiple applications into one interface, multi-keygens eliminate the need to manage separate keygens for each program. However, the use of multi-keygens often violates software licensing agreements or constitutes

when unauthorized, and may pose risks such as malware or compromised system security.

Authors and distribution

Unauthorized keygens that typically violate software licensing terms are written by programmers who engage in

reverse engineering Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompl ...

and

software cracking Software cracking (known as "breaking" mostly in the 1980s) is an act of removing copy protection from a software. Copy protection can be removed by applying a specific ''crack''. A ''crack'' can mean any tool that enables breaking software p ...

, often called ''crackers'', to circumvent

copy protection Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, is any measure to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media. Copy protection is most commonly found on vid ...

of software or

for

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

. Reverse engineering of software often involves disassembly of the software with a disassembler. The software is then analyzed and studied for its behavior. This reveals the algorithms or formulas used to verify the keys, which can then be used to create keys that will be accepted by the software, passing its verification process for the keys and activating the software, without obtaining a key from the software developer or publisher. Keygens are available for download on warez sites or through

peer-to-peer Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...

(P2P) networks.

Malware keygens

Keygens, available through P2P networks or otherwise, can contain malicious payloads. These key generators may or may not generate a valid key, but the embedded malware loaded invisibly at the same time may, for example, be a version of CryptoLocker (

ransomware Ransomware is a type of malware that Encryption, encrypts the victim's personal data until a ransom is paid. Difficult-to-trace Digital currency, digital currencies such as paysafecard or Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, cryptocurrencies are com ...

Antivirus software Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name ...

may discover malware embedded in keygens; such software often also identifies unauthorized keygens which do not contain a payload as potentially unwanted software, often labelling them with a name such as Win32/Keygen or Win32/Gendows.

HackTool.Win32.HackAV

A program designed to assist hacking is defined as HackTool.Win32.HackAV or not-a-virus:Keygen from Kaspersky Labs or as HackTool:Win32/Keygen by Microsoft Malware Protection Center. According to the ''Microsoft Malware Protection Center'', its first known detection dates back to 16 July 2009. Updated 15 September 2017 The following security threats were most often found on PCs that have been related to these tools: * '' Blackhole exploit kit'' * ''Win32/Autorun'' * ''Win32/Dorkbot'' * ''Win32/Obfuscator''

Keychan

A key changer or keychan is a variation of a keygen. A keychan is a small piece of software that changes the license key or serial number of a particular piece of proprietary software installed on a computer.

References

{{reflist

External links

Business Software Alliance and Software Patents
Software cracking Warez Copyright infringement of software Cryptographic software