Dongle cracking bypasses computer security systems using hardware and software, often by using counterfeit dongles. Dongles are used to protect expensive software and have different security methods, making it difficult to crack. Dongle cracking can also refer to wireless broadband dongles.
A dongle crack is a method of bypassing a computer security system using hardware and software. The idea of the system is that the software will only work when a specific and unique device is plugged into the computer. Dongle cracking is an attempt to get around this problem, often by attempting to use a counterfeit dongle.
The word dongle is often used to refer to any device that plugs into a USB port. However, strictly speaking it only refers to a specific hardware device rather than a simple storage system such as a USB memory stick. There are different types of dongles, each of which gives its own reason why people try to break the dongle.
The original meaning of dongle was a device used as a security system. It is used to protect very expensive software, usually for a niche market. The system means that the software is set to work only after you confirm that the dongle is plugged into the machine. The idea is that it’s much more difficult to reproduce a physical item like a dongle than the software itself.
There are several ways to use a dongle for security, each with its own challenges for someone trying to crack the dongle. In its simplest form, the software simply checks if the dongle is physically present. This can be circumvented by hacking the software and setting it to always work as if the dongle were present.
Another security method is to have the software send an encrypted confirmation request to the dongle. This can be decrypted in the same way as simple checking, but doing this is only possible if the encryption can be undone. An even more advanced method is to have a part of the program stored on the dongle itself rather than in the main software. This makes it much harder to crack, as simply tricking the software into thinking the dongle is present won’t be enough.
The term “dongle crack” can also refer to dongles used for wireless broadband service, whether over WiFi or a cellular network. In these cases dongles are actually miniature modem devices that plug into a USB slot. In this context, someone attempting to crack the dongle will likely attempt to break the encryption and intercept data sent to and from the Internet or use bandwidth to get online without having to pay for a connection.
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