Code protection USB dongle for Windows CE Beckhoff controller

[matt_sd]

Hello,

Has anyone used a USB dongle to protect code within a Windows CE device like the Beckhoff CX1020?

Seen devices on the market that are mainly for Windows XP etc but not Windows CE, not even sure if the CX1020 will have the drivers for a USB protection dongle. A standard USB memory stick cant even be used in the CX1020, only certain types of USB mouse works as well.

Anyone tried this?

We want to ship our product to many places and dont want someone to copy the Compact Flash (CF) card within seconds to replicate the months and months worth of software we have developed and tested.


Thanks

Matt

 

[JesperMP]

I dont know Beckhoff, but code protection ought to be part of any standard PLC product. I would ask Beckhoff if they already have a solution for this. Maybe you can read the serial number of the CF card or the CPU in the PLC program, and then block the advanced features if they do not match.

 

[matt_sd]

Hi JesperMP,

yes this will be the second option, I will try to read the MAC address and then compare to what the MAC address was.

 

[matt_sd]

Done some more tests today, I an't see any way to read the MAC ID within twincat, only the AMS Net ID.
But when a CF card is changed between hardware, the AMS Net ID stays the same(also the Host Name).

The Host name is suppose to be made up from the MAC ID as well but this is only from the initial build.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[cjd1965]

Have you asked Beckhoff as Jesper suggested?

 

[Keeper523]

Done some more tests today, I an't see any way to read the MAC ID within twincat, only the AMS Net ID.
But when a CF card is changed between hardware, the AMS Net ID stays the same(also the Host Name).

The Host name is suppose to be made up from the MAC ID as well but this is only from the initial build.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[font=&quot]Here is an interesting article from Beckhoff: [/font][font=&quot]
[/font][font=&quot]FB_GetAdaptersInfo[/font][font=&quot]
[/font][font=&quot][font=&quot]http://infosys.beckhoff.com/content/1033/tcplclibutilities/html/tcplclibutilities_fb_getadaptersinfo.htm[/font][/font]

 

[Archie]

If you have Visual Studio and can program in any of the .NET languages, you can add a windows application to the CX that reads the MAC ID, then writes it to the TwinCAT program or even just set an enable bit in TwinCAT. Just make the Windows application start on boot up and have the TwinCAT program wait for the enable bit to go true in order to start executing control.

 

[matt_sd]

Thanks for your suggestions, I used a system function block to read the CX hardware information, there are many function block libraries in Twincat, just a case of looking each one up in Infosystem or web search.

 

[rdrast]

Hello,

Has anyone used a USB dongle to protect code within a Windows CE device like the Beckhoff CX1020?

Seen devices on the market that are mainly for Windows XP etc but not Windows CE, not even sure if the CX1020 will have the drivers for a USB protection dongle. A standard USB memory stick cant even be used in the CX1020, only certain types of USB mouse works as well.

Anyone tried this?

We want to ship our product to many places and dont want someone to copy the Compact Flash (CF) card within seconds to replicate the months and months worth of software we have developed and tested.


Thanks

Matt

To be quite honest, there is virtually no way to protect PLC/HMI code any better than the methods incorporated into the programming packages/platforms themselves, and even they aren't really THAT secure.

For that matter, there is virtually no way to protect programming code of any sort, from I/O servers on up through Operating systems. The best (unfortunately) recourse is to have a serious licensing document drawn up, and then persue legal action if it is violated.