A key generator (key-gen) 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. Computer programs are one component of software, which also includes software documentation, documentation and oth ...

that generates a product licensing key, such as a

serial number A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it. Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...

, necessary to activate for use of a

software application Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

. 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 distributed illegitimately in circumstances of

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

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

warez scene The Warez scene, often referred to as The Scene, is a worldwide, underground, organized network of pirate groups specializing in obtaining and illegally releasing digital media for free before their official sale date. The Scene distributes all fo ...

and

demoscene The demoscene is an international computer art subculture focused on producing demos: self-contained, sometimes extremely small, computer programs that produce audiovisual presentations. The purpose of a demo is to show off programming, visual ...

. These keygens often play "Keygen music", 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 be ...

or chiptunes in the background and have artistic user interfaces.

Software licensing

software license A software license is a legal instrument (usually by way of contract law, with or without printed material) governing the use or redistribution of software. Under United States copyright law, all software is copyright protected, in both sourc ...

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 ''determin ...

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

(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 rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...

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. In this case, only a single value encoded within the key has to be changed in order to target a different product.

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 accompli ...

and

software cracking Software cracking (known as "breaking" mostly in the 1980s) is the modification of software to remove or disable features which are considered undesirable by the person cracking the software (software cracker), especially copy protection featur ...

, often called ''crackers'', to circumvent

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

of software or

for

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...

. Keygens are available for download on

warez Warez is a common computing and broader cultural term referring to pirated software (i.e. illegally copied, often after deactivation of anti-piracy measures) that is distributed via the Internet. Warez is used most commonly as a noun, a plural ...

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. They are said to form a peer-to-peer ...

(P2P) networks.

Malware keygens

Many unauthorized keygens, available through P2P networks or otherwise, contain malicious payloads.Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Volume 13, p14
/ref> 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 The CryptoLocker ransomware attack was a cyberattack using the ''CryptoLocker'' ransomware that occurred from 5 September 2013 to late May 2014. The attack utilized a trojan that targeted computers running Microsoft Windows, and was believed t ...

(

ransomware Ransomware is a type of malware from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim's personal data or permanently block access to it unless a ransom is paid off. While some simple ransomware may lock the system without damaging any files, ...

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 A potentially unwanted program (PUP) or potentially unwanted application (PUA) is software that a user may perceive as unwanted or unnecessary. It is used as a subjective tagging criterion by security and parental control products. Such software m ...

, 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 July 16, 2009. Updated Sep 15, 2017 The following security threats were most often found on PCs that have been related to these tools: * ''

Blackhole exploit kit The Blackhole exploit kit was, as of 2012, the most prevalent web threat, where 29% of all web threats detected by Sophos and 91% by AVG are due to this exploit kit. Its purpose is to deliver a malicious payload to a victim's computer. Accord ...

'' * ''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