System, apparatus and method for License Key permutation

Abstract

A system and method of dynamically altering the encoding, structure or other attribute of a cryptographic key, typically a license activation key, to render useless keys that have been created by illegal key generation “cracks”. An encoding/decoding engine provides a plurality of key obfuscation algorithms that may alter the structure, encoding or any other attribute of a given key. A changeable combination code is supplied to the encoding/decoding engine that specifies a subset of the algorithms to apply during the encoding or decoding phase. The encoding engine is used during key generation and the decoding engine used during key usage. The same combination code must be used during decoding as was used during encoding to recover the original key or a valid key will not be recovered. Thus, a system can be rapidly re-keyed by selecting a new combination of encoding/decoding algorithms. The selection of algorithms comprises a combination code. The new combination code will result in keys that are incompatible with any existing illegal key generators.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, at a computer processor, a cryptographic key in a computer license validation system, wherein the cryptographic key is associated with a licensed computer program requiring an authentic license key to operate;   assigning, at the computer processor, a combination code that specifies predetermined key obfuscation algorithms from a plurality of predetermined key obfuscation algorithms;   generating a combination key from seed data using the specified predetermined key obfuscation algorithms identified by the combination code;   generating a mangled instruction key from the received cryptographic key and the generated combination key; and   decoding the generated mangled instruction key from the specified predetermined key obfuscation algorithms.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein decoding the generated mangled instruction key comprises processing the generated mangled instruction key with the combination code and producing a result installation key. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein decoding the generated mangled instruction key comprises processing the generated mangled instruction key with specified predetermined key obfuscation algorithms to produce a result installation key. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein an activation key is paired with the cryptographic key, and further comprising analyzing the result installation key and generating another activation key that is compatible with the cryptographic key paired with the activation key. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the key obfuscation algorithms alter the structure or any other attribute of a given key. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the seed data comprises data that is retained, stored or generated by the computer license validation system. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the generated mangled installation key is unique to the combination code. 
     
     
         8 . An apparatus comprising:
 a microprocessor configured to receive a cryptographic key, wherein the cryptographic key is associated with a licensed computer program requiring an authentic license key to operate, and wherein the microprocessor is further configured to assign a combination code that specifies predetermined key obfuscation algorithms from a plurality of predetermined key obfuscation algorithms;   an encoder configured to generate a combination key from seed data using the specified predetermined key obfuscation algorithms identified by the combination code, wherein the encoder is further configured to generate a mangled instruction key from the received cryptographic key and the generated combination key; and   a decoder configured to decode the generated mangled instruction key from the specified predetermined key obfuscation algorithms.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the decoder decodes the generated mangled instruction key by processing the generated mangled instruction key with the combination code and producing a result installation key. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the decoder decodes the generated mangled instruction key by processing the generated mangled instruction key with specified predetermined key obfuscation algorithms to produce a result installation key. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein an activation key is paired with the cryptographic key, and the processor is further configured to analyze the result installation key and generate another activation key that is compatible with the cryptographic key paired with the activation key. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the key obfuscation algorithms alter the structure or any other attribute of a given key. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the seed data comprises data that is retained, stored or generated by the computer license validation system. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the generated mangled installation key is unique to the combination code. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having embodied thereon programmed code for executing a method in a computer license validation system having an encoder and decoder, the method comprising:
 receiving a cryptographic key in a computer license validation system, wherein the cryptographic key is associated with a licensed computer program requiring an authentic license key to operate;   assigning a combination code that specifies predetermined key obfuscation algorithms from a plurality of predetermined key obfuscation algorithms;   generating a combination key from seed data using the specified predetermined key obfuscation algorithms identified by the combination code;   generating a mangled instruction key from the received cryptographic key and the generated combination key; and   decoding the generated mangled instruction key from the specified predetermined key obfuscation algorithms.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein decoding the generated mangled instruction key comprises processing the generated mangled instruction key with specified predetermined key obfuscation algorithms to produce a result installation key. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein an activation key is paired with the cryptographic key, and further comprising analyzing the result installation key and generating another activation key that is compatible with the cryptographic key paired with the activation key. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the key obfuscation algorithms alter the structure or any other attribute of a given key. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the seed data comprises data that is retained, stored or generated by the computer license validation system. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the generated mangled installation key is unique to the combination code.