What is Digg?136 Comments
- rasterbator, on 10/12/2007, -13/+135You are coming to a sad realization. Cancel or allow?
- HighEncryption, on 10/12/2007, -14/+115Brute force is not cracking, which implies you found some sort of fault in the process. The only story here is that computers these days are powerful enough to make this type of "attack" possible. Any (well, most) decent programmer can write a program that generates and tries random keys. This does suck for the customers that legitimately bought a CD though. If it used any type of intelligent method of trying specifically construct keys, then I might be able to consider it cracking, but I haven't taken a look at their code to see if this is the case.
..."experiment in which i used to practice my vbscripting". Ok, ANY programmer.
You can digg me down now. - Klever, on 10/12/2007, -1/+80If you would have taken a moment to read the forums you would see that the keyfinder file is flagged as a virus because it is used to view your cdkey. The file is totally harmless and has been around a long time.
- nepawoods, on 10/12/2007, -2/+59"If you ask me, piracy shouldn't directly inconvenience legitimate consumers ..."
Nor should piracy prevention mechanisms. - spelchek, on 10/12/2007, -7/+59allow......... :(
- Dumbledorito, on 10/12/2007, -5/+56The nice thing about the above comment (if it was indeed made by Mac user) is that it both fails to promote Apple, and probably convinces readers that using a Mac causes one to become retarded. I applaud the efficiency.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+45Or we can just digg ya. :)
- wootah, on 10/12/2007, -10/+42
Here's the funny thing--I used to hate Microsoft for (almost) no reason at all a while ago. This was mainly do to the era of Windows ME and that feeling of getting screwed over every time I try to run some program and having it crash for no reason.
Then XP came out and I was freakin' happy to no end--yet I ignorantly still disliked MS because it was the 'cool' thing to do.
So crawled out of my shell of ignorance and actually started to learn -why- people disliked Microsoft so much and what made them flame MS left and right. I found that most people did what I used to do and hate them for no reason, or because it was the 'cool' thing to do, but some had problems with their business decision or creation (/stealing) or technology and ideas. So I decided to take the most objective view point I could and develop my own honest opinion of them.
So I found out that XP is a pretty decent OS (and Pro being slightly better, as I like my networking :D). Its responsive, runs most games quite well, has a wide selection of software, is very stable (I have had those serious bsod probably 2 or 3 times since its release--not bad imho! [Note: also in my opinion, most of the software crashes are due to poorly designed software models and coding which just happen to run on XP]).
And then Vista came out and I read into it with a very objective viewpoint as this worked very well with XP! Everything went completely down hill as I found out that consumers were getting screwed all because of the security that must be included to make it a 'secure computing platform'. If I want to play a HD DVD, I'll buy a freakin' HD DVD player. Then theres the also the issue with the licensing, etc etc. At this point, I hadn't actually had a chance to -use- the system, but I made up my mind and I was pretty clear that I did not agree at all with what Microsoft did with this system. Crappppp... looks like I just repeated my mistake.
So I actually go and try the OS--what did I find? Exactly what I thought it would be. It was installed on a beefy comp. as an upgrade from XP (problem #1). It locked up habitually and was just a freakin' hassle. Mind you, after a fresh install, things were ok. I also found that it was a bitch to get to things just to configure anything (problem #2)! What is it ? 8 mouse clicks to change your current monitor resolution, vs 4 with XP ? Sounds petty, but it took me some time as a brand new Vista user just to figure out how to change the res, and also change the DNS & subnet mask for my network (problem # n). I suppose this could be because this 'new style' of computing that MS is about.. but then why did they remove the grouping of the tabs in Display properties? The seemed intuitive? Correct me if I am wrong here, but you cannot right click on the desktop and click Properties anymore to get to the Display properties?
My overall impression of the OS is I like the appearance of it. It looks and feels nice but Flip 3d is a waste of my time and does not help me do tasks faster + it has nothing on Beryl. The Glass effects is also really nice, but not needed to do a spreadsheet or program. I would definitely not use after my -first hand experience-. So I decided to stay with XP as it works well for me. I also decided to give Linux a try and I am even starting to love that too.
The point of my rant is comments like what 'snoozer' wrote are ridiculous. All OS's have the flaws and strengths. Although I talked about the strengths of XP, there are quite a few things that piss me off (freakin' load time and true lack of control of the OS--which is where Linux shines). When people say comments like above, it drives a lot of people to continue to believe certain things 'just because' and it doesn't help people get anywhere.
Some people use XP - great!
Some people use Vista - awesome!
Some people use Ubuntu, Fedora, Suse, FreeBSD - wicked!
Some people use Macs - sweet!
So what!? It doesn't make you a better person for picking an OS. You use an OS because it suits -YOUR- needs (or because you haven't been shown anything else :) ).
People need to get over themselves and learn to view things from a more objective view.
Any intelligent ideas from anyone?
PS: I know this has nothing to do with the activation crack, but people that flame on a company/os/software without reason piss me off. This also wasn't meant to be a fanboy response (I tried to equally favor everything). - aldenhg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+35It certainly would suck to plop down a couple hundy for a new OS just to have your key already activated. If you ask me, piracy shouldn't directly inconvenience legitimate consumers, but I also think that with proper proof of purchase Microsoft wouldn't screw over a legitimate customer over a pirate as the article implies.
- cyclonesworld, on 10/12/2007, -0/+28Anyone remember the software piracy of the old days where you had to type in a word from a random page in the owner manual? Now that was top notch security.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+33Timerstop ftw
- estvir, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Let the men in the friendly white jackets do their job, please.
- dacheetah, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18Because they have probably activated it on that machine, and when you try to activate it on your machine and it realises that suddenly every single piece of hardware is totally different to the last machine that key was activated on it will bitch at you and then shoot lasers into your eyes before proceeding to cause your computer to implode, until it reaches critical mass and forms a tiny black hole, with after consuming your house simply disappears. (What, isn't that what they meant when they said it had the most advanced activation system of any software yet?)
- qbyte, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20Wootah - get a blog, bro!
- Flamekebab, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king..
- s0nicfreak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Even if so, how are they going to tell which of you actually purchased it?
- osmaker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12They log your IP address and the time of registration.
As such, with the right pressure on your ISP, they could find out who you are.
Probably not worth their time. Finding out which person legitimately owns the key is likely not worth their time either. - theuber1337, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Wow! Thank you for that totally reasonable and unbiased article!
This is not a crack, which would imply an exploit in the software, it is a brute force attack.
Microsoft - 1 Inquirer - 0 - theuber1337, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Ok, how is that getting dugg up? Seriously.
- Eastlygod, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I don't know alot about this, but if you use one of these hacked keys, then an actual user tries to activate with a legitimately purchased copy with the same key, won't they be able to track the fake key - i.e. the illegal copy of Vista, to your computer? Or am I on the wrong track here?
- Wang, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"...has been hacked." - i'll wait for a real hack which doesn't involve dumb brute forcing thanks. This just goes to prove that at least MS really is improving, if brute force is the only technique they can find to get around it (eventually, lol).
- teckieee, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9now asia is ready for vista ^_^
- CheapDigWannbe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8There are much simpler solutions. I won't go into specific, but it's just replacing few files, changing user administrative rights and then doing few more things in Safe-Mode.
Actually as misreported by "anoobisdugg," this way (not brute force) works with updates, even Ultimate extras, however users should not select genuine activation updates. - TheKeithD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Oh man, I remember those days. Sucked when I lost the manual though.
- am32, on 10/12/2007, -9/+14this isnt a crack...a crack would be a keygen for the activation code...im sure some people will take it...but instead of being desperate and trying keys for an hour or more, just buy the OS...
- ucg1, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9I have no problem with anyone shoplifting Windows.
- Vrail, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7The person who has the receipt is gonna win that battle and you're gonna be fined pretty hard.
That isn't stopping me from trying this though... I have one core working on this at 100% while the other is left for normal computing. It will be interesting to see if it works. - mcnearcj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Wouldn't this randomize the version of vista you get? (i.e. home premium, business, ultimate, ect)
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -9/+13Cracked is cracked. It just so happens that feasible cracks of decently secure systems require uncommon ingenuity. If a few minutes and a working knowledge of the alphabet is all it takes to break your ROT-5 encryption, then it is cracked. And BTW, a working keygen IS a crack, since the keys are supposed to incorporate some kind of encoding to prevent casual generation, which if done right is as unbreakable as the encryption method you use. Even if they used straight serial numbers, then your { ++key; } code is a crack if they honestly believed that you wouldn't be able to figure it out.
- long, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"If you ask me, piracy shouldn't directly inconvenience legitimate consumers"
its happened to me before, although the only inconvenience for me was exchanging the software box for a new one with a new CD-key. - Shade00a00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Checking evey hour or so...
Nope, still YFKBB-PQJJV-G99.... - joel8x, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Klever - I just read through those forums and concluded that either everybody on that site is non-English speaking, or the world is going to hell fast. Not one coherent thought in the whole thread. My favorite is the guy talking about cracking Vista for his 2 "8-way xeon boxes with 16 gigs of ram each". Why would you run pirated software on production machines - you can't tell me he's using those just to surf porn sites and play WoW.
- benhorstmann, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4true, but there is a pattern to their keys. Any IT guy or gal that has had to mind numblingly type in these keys over hundreds of builds will start to see it (not crack it, i'm not talking Rain Man here). Office, Windows, they all seem to have this odd familiar pattern. Understand that MS doesn't match your key against a database of 800 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 (8x10^38) keys, they would have the same problem you just mentioned. Your key is a variable in some equation that if a given answer is received, then you get authorized...
- ZakMcRofl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Confirmed fake:
http://digg.com/microsoft/Author_says_Vista_Brute_Force_hack_FAKE - insovietrussia, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Keygen Torrent:
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3630112/Windows.Vista.Brute.Force.Keygen-ComputerUser
(Since the links have been removed from the article)
/hijack - Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5If this happen, I think MS would just issue a new key by phone support. It's at a touch of a button for them.
- Doughboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I don't know VBS but I quickly peeked. It appears that he modifies the "PhoneActivateProduct" subroutine so it checks random keys until one passes the check (in other words, brute force). This means that it does not "phone home" to MS with millions/billions/trillions of attempts as it runs in the background (as some people speculate).
I think this hack will be defeated quickly. This approach is not new at all. Doesn't anyone remember the XP Keygen that used a similar method? It was a standalone program instead of a modified microsoft VB script and it brute-forced XP keys, which passed the install/activation at the time. Eventually MS was able to detect these as illegal keys using WGA (they have a database of all keys released). Don't you think they will do the same with Vista? To think different and that this is an end-all hack is pretty ignorant! - richarddd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6This is a link to the actual tool itself, found it on google
http://rapidshare.com/files/18950414/BruteForceVista.zip - dxgg, on 02/05/2008, -1/+4"The power of Linux compels you! The power of Linux compels you!"
*sips coffee and waits to wake up* - disc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4this is possibly the least substantiated claim I've heard in a while. It is as justifiable as to saying that aliens are aware of our space travel, and have adequate measure to prohibit it in the future.
- tyler1175, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4yeh they could but it's too much trouble
- Andytom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3But you could use the photocopier hack to get past that. Ah the good old days.
- gordigor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Its still robbing.
- BigMike, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5The article mentions how much of a headache it would be for M$ if people started activating legit keys owned by others or even those still not yet sold. I think that a distribute computing effort a la SETI or Folding@Home that would search for keys and activate them would be sweet. You wouldn't even use the found keys for piracy, just to flood the M$ activation server. That would cripple their Genuine Advantage malware BS! Legit owners wouldn't stand for all the trouble it would cause!
- damentz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5+1 wootah, really nice.
One of the things that bothered me about XP is the horrible fragmentation issues. You have to buy something like Diskeeper 11 if you want it to stop it from degrading. Writing two files at once that are about 50mb can make each file into 800 parts which bloats the reading time by like 5x. - abhiroop, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6i totally agree. I have nothing against people who feel that everything should be handed to them and that all software should be "free". Using a keygen to activate any software is just as bad as shoplifting, just because it is easier and you are less likely to get caught doesn't make it any more legitimate. In any case it is unfortunate if people who have bought the product are unable to use it because someone didn't feel the need to pay for the software.
- cquinnd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It means exactly what wang said, this attack is likely to expose a few keys (or even a few hundred keys) which is a problem yes, but also a drop in the bucket compared to the key generators and key exchanges that used to work against Windows XP pre sp2.
That this seems to be the most notable activation hack appearing at this point after Vista's RTM is a validation of some of the anti-piracy methods MS has tried to put in place. To paint this as totally invalidating it is to not look at the situation as a whole. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wolfenstein 3D had that as well. Good times.
- abhiroop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ucq1: tell me why is it that you hate microsoft? is it because of their monopoly on the market? is it because they make a product thats used by most of the computing world? I'm not the biggest fan of microsoft, but I fail to see why there is such an irrational hatred of a perfectly good company.
"kick a Microsoft employee in the balls" - these are the very people who create the software that your probably using right now! - OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3They'll put you on the "you might be a pirate" list.
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