code protect pic
I know the article and I'm confident that orpheus knew about it.
A small excerpt from there:
If you do not have a microscope you can do simple search exposing different part of the chip to UV light and observing the result. Once you have found them you can apply it to protected chip.
You should use opaque paper in order to protect Program memory from UV light.
Man !!!, you must be masochist enough to do that !
I don't want to talk about Sergei Skorobogatov skills. Maybe he finished his PhD thesis and now is working for USA army or some big microcontroller manufacturers company, helping them to fill the holes in security.
Bear in mind that what are you currently used, was developed by manufacturers for commercial fields, not military.
Thus the level of protection it's not so high as expected. Just because, you use your micro doing simple tasks, polling the level pins, some ordinary math, keyboard and display control....... Add to these your own options.
Remember, the padlock was not made for thief, but for honest peoples.
So, if a crazy guy develops overnight a briliant method in order to break the copy protection of microcontroller, that's don't bother too much the manufacturer as long as the attacked product don't falls into some proven secured one category.
Could be a bad advertising for that product, too. Especially when you compete with other manufacturers.
What I want to say it's that even manufacturers don't struggles enough against thiefs unless are forced to keep their brand name at high score rates.
Well, into FPGA and CPLD fields, things looks totally different. There, you got what you paid for. And IP cores protection worth-while. Because it's not the same playing with well known opcodes inside microcontroller, not matter at assembly level or C high level.
The effort spent for ASIC developments it's hundreds times much precious than for ordinary micro. That's why, worths to be more concerned about level of protection.
Do you still want an example of worth-while protection and reasons for choosing a product?
In ACTEL NEWSLETTER proACT spring 1999 issue on page 5 **broken link removed**
ACTEL'S HIGH-SECURITY FPGA TECHNOLOGY SELECTED FOR 'TACT MILLENNIUM,' WORLD'S FIRST DIGITAL AMPLIFIER
The heart of the amplifier is the patented EQUIBIT PCM-to-PWM processing and output stage, developed by Toccata Technology, an independent Danish research team.
Just two Actel FPGAs (an A42MX09 and an A42MX16) were used to replace two 24-bit DSPs and two CPLDs running at over 90MHz
Can you try to imagine the price of such kind of amplifier ? Please allow me to spell it: 10.000$
Do you think that the danish company was serious concerned to a proven secure way to protect their valuable intellectual property ?.
Can compete your design with the above one ? Are you afraid that someone could still steal your ordinary hex code developed for some blinking LEDs ?
That's why I believe you are more concerned with reverse engineering of other peoples work rather than yours. And you mask your desire under this stupid request: so i can test my methods to be sure
You ask from us to tell you some methods to break the copy protection, giving you a link or more idea to read
code protected chips, so can test yours methods to be sure. To be sure of what ? If you can't do it, nobody can ? That's why I wrote about boats and suicide. Obvious if you can taste a black humour !
I didn't saw yet such kind of advertising on microcontroller manufaturers web site, especially placed on main page.
But actel are really concerned. That's why you can find on main page.
**broken link removed**
Happy programing.
Or should I say happy c_r_a_c_k_i_n_g !