FOREWORD
Only some essays which I think are worth reading are included here.
You can get some other not so well (badly) written ones in the Downloads
section if you are interested.
Crackme
ManKind's Solution to Zephyrous' Serialme #1
ManKind's Solution to Zephyrous' Keygenme #1
Here are solutions to 2 crackmes coded by my friend, Zephyrous. The two crackmes, although having different names, actually have similar protection and require name/serial combinations and/or keygens as their solutions. In this solution you will learn mostly how to get to the suspicious (important) code, understand the code and how to rip the code and implement it in your own keygens (source code for two 32-bit DOS Assembly keygens included!). Quite useful for those who want to dive straight into keygen protections and solve them.
[Download the crackmes here]
Cracking BiSHoP's Crackme #9 with ManKind
We will be dealing with an interesting protection here. Any serial
that we used to register will be manipulated before being compared
to a hardcoded value. This kind of protection is similar to a one-way
hash routine, which could be rather secure if implemented wisely.
Fortunately the function used in this crackme to manipulate the
serial that we input can be reversed, and thus I demonstrate
a technique I'd call calculate backward, which
is really just reversing the function to get a correct serial. [Download the crackme here]
Solution to Crackme by SerHack 2001
The crackme has an interesting name/serial protection where there are a few
possibilities in the pattern of serial that we intend to use to register.
Therefore, the keygen that anyone make for this crackme can actually be
unique to oneself. Do take a look at it if you have not encountered such
name/serial protection. [Download the crackme here]
Let's crack TrickSoft Level1 CrackMe with ManKind
Let's crack TrickSoft Level2 CrackMe with ManKind
Together this 2 essays provide quite a considerable amount of knowledge needed to crack Visual Basic programs. They may not be complete guides but contain some methodical ways of cracking VB apps, some tricks and they also illustrate the use of both SmartCheck and SoftICE in different situations and in different ways. [Download the crackmes here]
Shareware/Commercial Software
An interesting self-checking serial
protection: Auto-IP Publisher 2.32
This essay walks you through making a keygen/brute-forcer for a
not so conventional serial protection. The protection is based only
on a single serial, and although it is not a terribly tough one,
it does provide a good start to studying such a protection. Included
a simple explanation of how such protection works and also source
code of a sample keygen.
Total reversing of Darts 95 v1.1 (A sweet memory)
This essay walks you through the process of making a simple keygen. The
protection itself is pretty straight forward, and so is the essay. This
could probably serve as a good starting point for anyone interested to
know more about making keygens for name/serial protections.
Basic keygenning:Hang2000 1.31
I attempt to teach the basic of keygenning through this essay. Although
I myself is rather disappointed with the end result and thought that I
could do better, this essay can really help you master the basics of
making keygen. Among others, this essay goes through the basics of
keygenning step by step, includes the source code of a sample keygen
and I have also deliberately provided some links using HTML to allow
the reader to scroll easily to parts of codes in discussion.
Keygenning a Java-coded program:SplitMail 1.0
I am only able to keygen the Java program because it could be decompiled.
I don't consider this a very good way to keygen, and I am sure sooner or
later this security issue of the Java programming language would be resolved.
Meanwhile, do take a look at this essay and tell yourself that for now,
you could still keygen Java programs eventhough it is not done in the most
noble way. This essay explains some issues pertaining to the Java programming
language and tools in the Java Development Kit (JDK), and includes the source
code of a sample keygen in Java.
Cracking SillyScroll 1.0, a Java program...
Cracking ImageMaze, another Java program
The two essays above illustrate a barbarian way of cracking, that is,
first decompile the programs, change the source codes (aka somehow patch),
and re-compile them. I do not recommend this method of cracking in the long
run, but do read them as they contain not only ways of cracking the programs
(which actually work, though it's a little dirty) but also quite some
information on the Java programming language and the JDK.
Keygenning with SmartCheck
Keygenning with SmartCheck:Yam 2.1.0
The essays show you an easy way of keygenning some Visual Basic programs,
especially those with loose protections. The way mentioned
is through the use of SmartCheck, which is actually a useful debugging tool
for Visual Basic programmers. SmartCheck is useful for some quick and easy
keygens but you just have to bring SoftICE in if you're doing some serious
and tough keygens.
Reverseme
Solving bLaCk-eye's ReverSeMe1
This is my first public solution for a reverseme. Presented in a simple approach, it also has explanations for most of the steps that I took while reversing this reverseme. It is quite an interesting reverseme for me, though it is quite easy to solve. I hope this essay could help some crackers to get a head start in reversing reversemes. [Download the reverseme here] [Download the reversed files here]
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