KEYnote Magazine Articles

Many enterprises in the software business want to generate additional revenue streams. The solution depends on many aspects, but one…

The blinds weren’t drawn and there was no bright light glaring right in my face. But it all still felt a bit like an interrogation.…

Software developers who intend to integrate CodeMeter into their applications will, sooner or later, have to think about how they can…

CodeMeter License Portal is a powerful tool for managing individual users or groups of users in a smart, tiered hierarchy that can…

Wibu-Systems has developed a completely new variant of its popular AxProtector for native applications on Windows, Linux, and macOS.…

In software licensing, providing licenses should be simple and secure. That goes for software developers who want to create new…

The last issue of our KEYnote magazine explained how the License Portal can integrate the automatic creation of CmCloudContainers. We…

What can a German fairy tale tell us about the threat of quantum computing and the fate of post-quantum cryptography? Surprisingly…

Automatic build systems and continuous integration have become the standard for modern software development processes. Typically, the…

Setting up a new system in an untouched greenfield environment is like playing in god mode. All components are perfectly matched up…

What is happening to your software out in the field? That is a question that many software developers and vendors are asking themselves…

It is a story many of us have experienced in some form or another: In my college dorm, we did not have laundry. Instead, there was a…

The new Wibu-Systems Campus in Karlsruhe was built to make working easier and more enjoyable – and that also goes for the all-new…

In December 2021, there was a much-publicized security incident. Known as “Log4Shell”, it is a good lesson in how important it is to…

Engineers, scientists, economists, and the mathematically inclined everywhere swear by it: MATLAB by Mathworks Inc., the numeric…

Every software vendor knows: To monetize your software, you use licenses. But what about protecting the invaluable know-how that is…

My first version of MS Office still came on discs in a box and was paid for with Deutschmarks. It served me well for a long time, until…

The License Portal gives software developers a simple and flexible way to allow users to create and manage their CmCloudContainers and…

Additive manufacturing has truly arrived. When the first 3D printer was introduced back in 1987, it was the start of a long and often…

Depending on the type of product they are selling, software vendors often have to contend with different legal requirements and access…

Many software developers favor CodeMeter as a licensing system because of its easy and reliable integration with a vast range of…

JavaScript can look back on a long and storied history as a script language, originally for in-browser use or client-side processes,…

Massive simulations in the cloud are beginning to replace costly simulation hardware. The automotive industry has discovered the…

November 2021 was chosen as the perfect time for the grand opening of the IT Security Club. Breaking the mold of standard shared office…

CodeMeter Version 7.30 introduced a number of new features to improve the experience of working with protected applications in…

In our last issue of KEYnote magazine, we looked at a selection of options for subscription models with CodeMeter License Central and…

Entitlement – it is one of those words that carries so many meanings: People can feel a sense of entitlement or realize the benefit…

Many software developers turn to CodeMeter for their licensing needs, not just for the ease with which it can be integrated in a vast…

It is a rule of life: All good things must come to an end. And this axiom is true for old applications and entire operating systems,…

A new native component has arrived to keep software even better protected with novel mechanisms. Learn all the benefits and how this…

More and more software developers are reaching out to Wibu-Systems with their vision to offer their software by subscription. This…

“Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings“: Robert Plant reminds us when singing about the stairway to heaven. If he had known…

The time has come: On 14 April 2021, WIBU-SYSTEMS AG changed its entry in the company register to Zimmerstrasse 5, 76137 Karlsruhe,…

In August 2020, the Wibu Operating Services (WOPS) officially arrived in their new home: WIBU-SYSTEMS AG’s very own data center. From…

But how do you protect and license Python applications?The TIOBE Index charts the world’s most popular programming languages, and it…

As 2020 slowly draws to a close, the Coronavirus still dominates the world’s headlines and continues to affect the lives of people…

How do you protect software from reverse engineering? How do you make sure that your users pay the licensing fees they owe you? You…

CmCloudContainers are the latest addition to the CmContainer family. Compared to hardware CmDongles and software CmActLicenses,…

With license portals, everyone benefits – software developers and their users. License portals enable users to manage their licenses…

The health and future prospects of our economy depend on IT security as a "fundamental enabler” technology. Artificial intelligence,…

Virtual systems are popular. These days, wherever possible, services and solutions are virtualized. The advantages are plain to see:…

Let us take a quick personality test. You are trying to solve a particularly hard puzzle while you are home. Would you A) keep working…

Industry 4.0, IoT, IIoT, SaaS, Azure, and AWS: We are living in a world of devices that are always online and communicating with each…

"My dog ate my dongle." What sounds like a poor excuse is actually the start of a true story I like to tell. Or almost true, because…

CodeMeter License Central was Wibu-Systems’ first foray into the world of cloud licensing: The system creates and delivers licenses…

Any conversation about security or authentication will, sooner or later, come down to the matter of certificates. Still, certificates…

The BackgroundCodeMeter Cloud was first envisaged around four years ago. Wibu-Systems’ Corporate Technology department was expanding…

3D printing has morphed over time from a plaything for elite nerds to a viable technology for the future of industry. Companies now…

Germany’s federal government recently released its “Blockchain Strategy” to great fanfare. Judgement is still out on whether this…

Wibu-Systems introduces the ideal solution to protect trial and demo software or enable freemium models with free software designed to…

Container systems like Docker are becoming an increasingly popular choice for running applications in isolation. Containers are simple…

Virtual environments make it difficult for activation-based licenses to be securely bound to the machines they are meant for. The…

Over the last three decades, a simple and user-friendly copy protection product for PC software launched in 1989 has evolved into a…

At Wibu-Systems, security is our first and foremost priority. We are acutely aware of the need to integrate the most stringent quality…

Why not let CodeMeter Embedded work with a TPM (Trusted Platform Module)? Some embedded or IoT devices already come with a TPM or…

Since launching Wibu Operating Services (WOPS), more than 150 clients have already entrusted us to host their CodeMeter License…

Resellers are a good way to expand your business with minimal investments. Resellers have the boots on the ground: They are on site,…

There are many cases in which service technicians need to use software for maintenance or repair jobs out in the field. Forklifts,…

The What?CodeMeter License Central has a fiendishly difficult task: To deliver the complexities of license generation and lifecycle…

Digital certificates using the x.509 format are becoming more and more common and increasingly important. The processes for managing…

The German national reference project for IT security in Industry 4.0 – or IUNO for short – wanted to understand the threats and risks…

CodeMeter Protection Suite keeps expanding and growing in strength. AxProtector .NET Standard has joined the Protection Suite family as…

“My installation package includes one application and many libraries. I need to prevent hackers from replacing individual libraries,…

Guaranteeing optimum availability, while keeping a strict count of the purchased licenses, is a constant cause for friction between…

As of version 6.70, CodeMeter can now create Modified Context Files (*.WibuCmRaM) and combine Remote Update Files (*.WibuCmRaU) for…

Predictive maintenance and Condition Monitoring have become hot topics in industry. It means collecting and processing data from as…

A license portal gives users a means to personally manage the licenses they have bought. This reduces the need for costly support…

CodeMeter License Central allows you to deliver and update licenses in many different ways. Two new features introduced in version 3.20…

Software licenses are a valuable asset – and usually a limited resource. Their buyers will want to verify who actually uses them. This…

CodeMeter License Central is a great way to create, deliver, and manage licenses that can be operated as a cloud or on-premise solution…

“Anything executed on a computer can be monitored by hackers. They can understand and bypass security mechanisms just as easily as…

Software on desktop, server and cloud systems today represents a major part of business assets. Software in embedded devices, however,…

“A wrapper that encrypts software can be circumvented by using a memory dump. You just wait until all parts of the application are…

In the past, the software industry relied on the simple one-off sale of software. This had specific drawbacks for both the software…

Hundreds of eager participants from all over the world took part in our latest hacker’s contest. Their mission: To crack the Blurry…

CodeMeter Embedded is entering its new generation, bringing with it several important and exciting innovations and giving the library a…

For almost a decade, CodeMeter License Central has been Wibu-Systems’ solution for cloud-based licensing. Licenses can be created in…

The backbone of positive service management is an effective ticketing system that coordinates queries and questions, improves…

A license portal can increase customer satisfaction and reduce operating costs by offering self-service functions. Your users are given…

Intellectual property comes in all shapes and sizes. Software is just one of them. If you want to protect your software, Protection…

Successful brands like Adobe, Microsoft, and Sony are convinced: Instead of selling licenses, their users can rent their software and…

When software on a regular consumer computer stops working, it is a nuisance. If it stops working in a commercial environment, it can…

Protecting software should be safe and simple – but isn’t that a contradiction in terms? Wibu-Systems shows that it does not have to be…

OPC Unified Architecture (UA) is increasingly establishing itself as the accepted standard in the automation industry. The open IEC…

I like to compare CodeMeter to a steering wheel. Software developers choose suppliers and integrate their copy protection or licensing…

Cooperation, professionalism, and organizational competencies are the key factors for success in our times. While solutions are getting…

Microcontrollers are used in more and more critical applications like pump controls, servo inverters, sensors with field bus…

Named User Licenses are a new type of license that is bound to a specific user. This might sound simple at first, but virtually every…

When you are a newcomer to software licensing, you have the great opportunity to design the perfect solution for your needs from the…

Do you know a butcher who is a vegetarian or a passionate car salesman who drives a model from a different brand? These are just…

Many software developers use CodeMeter Runtime and encrypt their applications with AxProtector. They want to know when new innovations…

Operating the CodeMeter License Central back office solution over the Internet is not rocket science, but it might require certain…

The last edition of KEYnote introduced you to the fundamental concept of the CodeMeter License Transfer function. Today, we will…

Organizing your products has just become even easier with CodeMeter License Central 2.20: Product bundles allow you to structure your…

The information on a CodeMeter license server can be accessed locally or from remote machines via a dedicated web interface. Called…

CodeMeter 6 introduced the new type of Firm Code for different CmContainers, which can be stored either in CodeMeter hardware…

Many challenges, one solution: Nested Product Items facilitate license configuration, prevent inconsistencies with licensing modular…

The all-new Universal Firm Code provides the groundwork for the secure transfer of licenses without any involvement of the original…

License servers in the user’s network have become increasingly popular options in the recent past. As a software developer, you leave…

Originally founded in 1972, SAP has steadily been expanding and intensifying its presence in the world market. Countless global…

With CodeMeter License Central, Wibu-Systems offers a cloud solution for creating licenses right in the cloud. CmWAN gives you the…

Since 2003, CmSticks have been available to protect and license your software. One great advantage of CodeMeter is that you do not have…

Wibu-Systems introduces an evaluation kit for Raspberry Pi that showcases the easy implementation of software protection and the last…

Why does automation need CodeMeter?Industrial controllers are becoming more and more intelligent every day. The highly specialized,…

Creating, delivering, and managing licenses has never been easier with the latest edition of CodeMeter License Central. Many changes,…

Software is contributing an ever greater share to the value created in our economy. This makes software protection an increasingly…

The CmStick/M, a CodeMeter dongle with a USB interface and integrated flash memory, was first introduced in 2004. Since its inception,…

Server certificates are a ubiquitous sight. They offer users the certainty that they are indeed on the right website and have not…

There are many ways to activate licenses. One option is to integrate an activation wizard in your software. Another elegant option is…

A common use case of software certificates is code signing: the developer of a software application signs the code with a private key.…

Powering more than 1.5 billion embedded devices, VxWorks is the world’s most popular real-time operating system. The users of VxWorks…

The many versions of the AxProtector technology for different software application types offer the right protection for your specific…

Asymmetric signatures rely on fingerprints that are signed with private keys. With the public key of the signatory, anybody can check…

Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things are a vision of all embedded devices being interconnected in the future. In this future…

The prime purpose of CodeMeter is the protection and licensing of software. In license management, CodeMeter protection covers two…

CodeMeter is designed as a single comprehensive solution that offers numerous benefits for software vendors (ISVs) and users alike. The…

1989-2014: “25 years propelling your business to new heights” is a bold statement that only exceptional company founders and top…

The world is changing. Smaller, connected computers are used more and more around us. They are pushing out the old proprietary…

All roads lead to Rome. Some are rocky, some are highways, some byways. The story is similar when it comes to transferring a license…

For software publishers, distributing the right licenses to their users is one of the most important steps in the entire sales process.…

As an Independent Software Vendor (ISV), you might be wondering: “Why do I need a customer portal?” The ­answer is simple: “Because you…

Protection against piracy is a proposition which has been around for a long time in the software development arena and is very familiar…

Protecting software should be simple and secure. Two mutually exclusive goals? They do not have to be. Learn how to integrate fraud…

Micro-controllers and electronic controls govern our lives. From nuclear power plants to factories and commuter trains, they are…

Wibu-Systems, founded in 1989 by Marcellus Buchheit and Oliver Winzenried, has become a global player in its industry. With…

“Who needs dongles?” Asked first some years ago, this question is becoming more and more frequent in times of increasing…

User right management for IP Protection is the new added value of Rockwell’s Studio5000 IDE solutionThere used to be a time when the…

You‘ve finished your software and successfully integrated Wibu-Systems‘ software protection and license management into it; how do you…

A quick overview of what licenses have been sold and which ones are about to expire can help sales teams create the right strategies…

Wibu-Systems was founded in 1989 with the aim of developing simple and easy-to-use software protection systems. The idea was to protect…

Maybe you‘ve read my article “Software protection from a hacker‘s perspective“ in one of the last issues of KEYnote. In this article I…

The Embedded Development Kit for VxWorks is the result of a collaboration between Wind River, Emerson and Wibu-Systems. The EDK allows…

Virtualization was already making headway in the 90s, it’s impossible to imagine the IT world of today without it. The key benefits…

Many trends come. Some stay, others find a niche, but most disappear for good. It can be just as fatal for an organization to miss a…

Practically every piece of software processes data in some way or antoher. Depending on the actual application, the data may contain a…

Software development is a time consuming and costly business for a software vendor. The end product often contains extensive specialist…

Activation-based solutions such as CmActLicenses are very much state-of-the-art. Hardware-based solutions like the CmDongle, on the…

“I use standard certificates so I’m safe.” The only safe thing to say about this statement is that one cannot safely say if it’s true…

In 2010 Wibu-Systems signed a cooperation agreement with 3S-Smart Software Solutions to integrate its protection technology into the…

CodeMeter is driverless but we recommend you install the CodeMeter runtime with administrator rights. How does this fit together?…

You are about to release a new version of your software which contains innovative ideas and state-of-the-art technology. However your…

Мы должны знать намерения своих врагов. “You need to know the arguments of your enemies” replied an aristocratic landowner in a Russian…

In a world where product piracy is becoming ever more prevalent, full protection against piracy, reverse engineering and manipulation…

Software protection is not only relevant to PC software. There are also important reasons for protecting PLC software: machines and…

With subsidiaries in the USA and China and sales offices in England, Ireland, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as…

How good is good software protection? As a software developer what do I need to think about during development to make sure my software…

At the turn of the century, ASP (Application Service Providing) was all the rage. “Customers won’t buy and download software in the…

CodeMeter SmartBind describes the new concept to bind licenses, i.e. digital rights, to a computer or other specific device. CodeMeter…

Secure Software Licensing: Build vs. Buy. You have successfully completed development of your new software package and now it’s time to…

This month we’re excited to announce three new products: the world’s smallest dongle, a CmStick with a battery, and a CmCard for…

Once your application is finished and protected with CodeMeter, administrators, accountants, product managers, and sales reps will all…

All research and development, as well as final testing of all our products, is done at Wibu-Systems headquarters in Karlsruhe, Germany.…

Every sales professional knows it’s much easier to sell to an existing customer than to find a new one. Some clever businesses even go…

Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) may disagree over which platform (Windows, Mac, or Linux) to target, or which development platform…

As a global player, Wibu-Systems provides excellent local support on almost all continents. Customers can get local support and buy…