Chinese software developers, students, professors, and other high-tech gurus were the latest group to attempt to crack Wibu-Systems' CodeMeter software protection system - but the prize of $15,000 remained unawarded.

Wibu-Systems first challenged hackers to crack its  software protection solution in 2001 when over 200 competitors participated in the first contest.

Almost a decade later a total of around 2,400 participants have attempted to defeat the security afforded initially by WibuKey and more recently by the stronger CodeMeter system. However, the task of by-passing the software protection encoded in the device has never been accomplished - although there were some partial solutions during the 2007 international  contest and prizes of 1,000 euros were presented to some contestants in Germany, Poland and China and Wibu-Systems was able to further strengthen its protection mechanisms.   

WibuKey and CodeMeter can be used, together with encryption, for software protection, document protection and access protection. The protection is delivered in a variety of physical devices and its APIs give the developer both flexibility and in the light of the failed attempt crack it a good degree of confidence.

For more information:

English:

http://wibu.com/software_protection.php?lang=en
German:

http://wibu.com/software_protection.php?lang=de