Dongle Protection

Description

A software protection dongle is a small piece of hardware that plugs into an electrical connector on a computer and serves as an electronic “key” for a piece of software.

HTML Executable lets you lock your publication to a dongle so that each time your publication is run, it will check for the presence of the dongle. If the right dongle is plugged in, the publication will be opened, otherwise it will not run.

Using dongles allows users to run your publication on any computer. It also prevents them from sharing their publications or ebooks with third-parties or making copies, since the publication requires the correct dongle be plugged in.

Compatible Dongles

HTML Executable 4.6 currently accepts Enky LC and Enky SL dongles distributed by HS-Security Ware GmbH: you can find more information about the dongle hardware at http://www.hs-securityware.com/enky-lc/enky_lc_e.html or http://www.hs-securityware.com/enky-sl/enky_sl_e.html. For a demonstration, questions, or to purchase dongles, please contact them directly.

If you wish to have support for other dongle models, please contact us.

Enky LC dongles

From the manufacturer: the Enky LC dongle is one of the most cost-effective software protection dongles. Enky LC has a matured 8-bit chip developed by top class manufacturer and is a standard USB interface-based HID device, which can be used driverless under Windows.

Steps to configure a publication to accept Enky LC dongles

  1. Turn “Link the publication to a dongle” on.
  2. Select the “Enky LC dongle” model in the list.
  3. Enter the Developer ID you received from HS-Security Ware when purchasing your dongles.
  4. Enter a unique Product ID associated to your publication or ebook. This ensures that only Enky LC dongles with the correct product ID will be accepted by your publication.
  5. Compile your publication.

Steps to configure an Enky LC dongle

Dongles received from HS-Security Ware are configured to work with HTML Executable. In order to link the dongle to your publication, you have to burn it first. This can be done with the “Burn Dongle Now” button. Plug in the dongle you want to burn, and press the button. The dongle is configured and a confirmation message is displayed. You now have a dongle configured to unlock your publication and you can distribute it to your customer along with the publication EXE file.

The Burn Dongle process can be automatically done by HTML Executable when compiling your publication, provided that a compatible dongle is plugged in (it will be listed in the compilation log).

Background check

In order to run the protected publication or ebook, a dongle with the correct Developer ID and Product ID has to be plugged in. Moreover, in order to prevent users from removing the dongle while still running the publication, you can enable a background check. In that case, the dongle will be checked every X seconds - if the dongle is not available, the publication will freeze and request it. The user has the choice to insert the dongle again or quit the publication.

To do so, enter the X interval in seconds or leave the field blank to disable. For instance, you can enter “15” and the dongle will be checked every 15 seconds.

Customizing error messages

Error messages related to the dongle can be modified the way you like thanks to resource strings in the Localization page. The following resource strings are used: SDongleInvalidProductID, SDongleAPIError, SDongleNotFound, SDongleHardwareError, SDongleIncompatible, SDongleInvalidDongle, SDongleInvalidCheck

Enky SL dongles

From the manufacturer: Smart card based security dongle, providing secured information storage, designed for software licensing, software copy protection and software piracy protection.

Steps to configure a publication to accept Enky SL dongles

  1. Turn “Link the publication to a dongle” on.
  2. Select the “Enky SL dongle” model in the list.
  3. Enter the Developer ID you received from HS-Security Ware when purchasing your dongles.
  4. If you have not received the product ID, you need to generate one. Make sure you plug the dongle in and click “Modify”. Enter the seed data that will be used to compute a secure and unique product ID. This product ID is also stored on the dongle.
  5. Enter a unique Application ID associated to your publication or ebook. This ensures that only Enky SL dongles with the correct application ID will be accepted by your publication. This is an additional security layer for your publication.
  6. Choose the “License Index Module” that will be used for your publication. Enky SL dongles allow up to 256 different license modules.
  7. For a given license module, you can optionally assign a maximum execution count, a maximum number of execution days or a fixed expiration date.
  8. Compile your publication.

Steps to configure an Enky SL dongle

Dongles received from HS-Security Ware are configured to work with HTML Executable. In order to link the dongle to your publication, you have to burn it first. This can be done with the “Burn Dongle Now” button. Plug in the dongle you want to burn, and press the button. The dongle is configured and a confirmation message is displayed. You now have a dongle configured to unlock your publication and you can distribute it to your customer along with the publication EXE file.

The Burn Dongle process can be automatically done by HTML Executable when compiling your publication, provided that a compatible dongle is plugged in (it will be listed in the compilation log).

Background check

In order to run the protected publication or ebook, a dongle with the correct Developer ID, Product ID and Application ID has to be plugged in. Moreover, in order to prevent users from removing the dongle while still running the publication, you can enable a background check. In that case, the dongle will be checked every X seconds - if the dongle is not available, the publication will freeze and request it. The user has the choice to insert the dongle again or quit the publication.

To do so, enter the X interval in seconds or leave the field blank to disable. For instance, you can enter “15” and the dongle will be checked every 15 seconds.

Customizing error messages

Error messages related to the dongle can be modified the way you like thanks to resource strings in the Localization page. The following resource strings are used: SDongleInvalidProductID, SDongleAPIError, SDongleNotFound, SDongleHardwareError, SDongleIncompatible, SDongleInvalidDongle, SDongleInvalidCheck, SDongleLicenseError and SDongleLicenseExpired

Other security features

Dongle protection is compatible with other security features and trial options of HTML Executable.


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