An operating system is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services, including graphical user interfaces (GUIs), for other computer programs to run on a computing device like a desktop, laptop, or notebook computer, among other types of computing devices. An operating system may be considered as the core set of software on a computing device, exposing common system services, libraries, and application programming interfaces (APIs) that other programs can use to run on the operating system. The operating system is thus situated between such other programs and the hardware of a computing device. Examples of operating systems include versions of the MICROSOFT WINDOWS operating system, versions of the LINUX operating system, and versions of the APPLE MACOS operating system, among other types of operating systems.
Traditionally operating systems have been tied to the computing devices on which they are installed. To use a different operating system on a computing device, the operating system in question would first have to be installed on the device before it could be booted and executed. More recently, operating system distributions referred to as an “operating system on a stick” have gained popularity, which is a distribution of an operating system on a portable device that plugs into or is connected to a computing device, and which can boot and execute from the portable device without having to be installed on the computing device.
Such distributions, which are also referred to as live distributions, often do not make any changes to their host computing devices during execution. Live distributions are commonly stored on flash drives, such as universal serial bus (USB) flash drives, but can also be stored on portable hard drives and solid-state drives (SSDs). Live distributions are portable, and permit a user to use an operating system on any compatible computing device by simply plugging the portable device into the computing device. When finished, the user can remove the portable device and insert it into a different computing device to use the operating system on the latter device.
Techniques described herein provide for node-locked and time-restricted licenses for such operating systems. The license is node-locked to the device on which the operating system is stored, which is referred to as a license device herein, to prevent the operating system from being executed from a different device if copied to that device. Node-locking the license to the device mitigates software piracy concerns. The license is time-restricted to the date of first use of the operating system at an end user (or a future date), in that the licensing period begins on this date, as opposed to the date of manufacture of the license device, which eases stocking and order fulfillment issues.
Referring to
Each license device has a unique identifier, such as a universally unique identifier (UUID) or a globally unique identifier (GUID). The unique identifier of a license device may be a serial number hardcoded into the license device, for instance. The unique identifier of the license device may not be easily spoofed, in that imbuing an existing license device with the unique identifier of another license device may be difficult if not impossible to do. The remainder of
The first cryptographic key pair includes a first public key and a first private key. The first key pair is thus an asymmetric cryptographic key pair. The first key pair may be tied to the manufacturer of the license device, or to an authorized distributor, seller, or other party of the license device. The first private key is confidential to this party, whereas the first public key can be disseminated widely, to permit authentication of data signed by the first private key (and to permit encryption of data decryptable by just the holder of the first private key). The first key pair may be self-signed, meaning that it is self-authenticating, or it can be signed (e.g., generated) by a trusted certificate authority, and therefore authenticated against the certificate authority.
The result of part 102 is a license device 180 storing the first public key 183 and the first private key 182 (i.e., the first key pair), and the live distribution of the operating system 184. The method 100 includes inserting the license device 180 into a computing device at the factory (104). (Beginning with part 104, the method 100 is performed individually for each license device to which the first key pair and the operating system have been copied.) Because the distribution of the operating system 184 is a live distribution, the computing device boots the operating system 184 directly from the license device 180 (106). This is the first boot of the operating system 184, which occurs at the factory.
Execution of the operating system 184 causes the computing device to generate a node-locked second cryptographic key pair and digitally sign the second key pair with the first private key 182 (108). The second key pair is node-locked specifically to the license device 180 inserted into the computing device, and thus is unique to the license device 180 (as compared to the first key pair, which is not). For example, the second key pair may encode the unique identifier of the license device 180. The second key pair is, like the first key pair, an asymmetric cryptographic key pair and includes a second public key and a second private. Digitally signing the second key pair with the first private key 182 permits authentication of the second key pair against the first public key 183. Modifying the second key pair after digital signature would destroy the digital signature in that the second key pair could no longer be authenticated against the first public key 183, and thus securely node-locks the second key pair.
Execution of the operating system 184 causes the computing device to then delete the first private key 182 from the license device 180 (110), resulting in the license device 180 storing the first public key 183 and the operating system 184 (and no longer the first private key 182). The first private key 182 is securely deleted, so that it cannot be later recovered from the license device 180. Execution of the operating system 184 causes the computing device to then store the node-locked second key pair on the license device 180 (112), resulting in the license device 180 now storing the first public key 183, the second public key 187 and the second private key 186 (i.e., the second key pair), and the operating system 184.
The second public and private keys 187 and 186 as stored on the license device 180 are digitally signed with the now-deleted first private key 182, but are authenticable against the first public key 183 stored on the device 180. The process at the factory is thus finished. Therefore, execution of the operating system 184 causes the computing device to then shut down (114), permitting removal of the license device 180 from the computing device (116). That is, once the operating system 184 has generated, digitally signed, and copied the second public and private keys 187 and 186 to the license device 180, the operating system 184 shuts down.
At the conclusion of the method 100, the license device 180 can be sent to an end user, or to a reseller that will provide it to an end user upon sale. Upon leaving the factory, the license device 180 does not yet store the node-locked and time-restricted license that governs usage of the operating system 184. The operating system 184 has the capability to generate the node-locked and time-restricted license at first use by the end user, to permit subsequent license-governed usage of the operating system 184 to run other computer programs, and so on. Rather, upon leaving the factory, the license device 180 stores the first public key 183, the node-locked second public and private keys 187 and 186, and the operating system 184.
Referring to
At time of insertion of the license device 180 into a computing device in part 122, the first public key 183, the second public and private keys 187 and 186, and the operating system 184 already reside on the device 180. The first private key 182 of
Execution of the operating system 184 causes the computing device to generate a license and digitally sign the license with the second private key 186 (126). The license may be a data file that encodes the licensing terms of the operating system 124, such as how long the operating system 124 can be used upon first use by the end user. For example, the licensing terms may specify that the operating system 124 can be used for a period of days, months, or years from first use by the end user. As another example, the licensing terms may specify that the operating system 124 is to contact a server to determine if the operating system 124 is currently licensed.
Digitally signing the license with the second private key 186 node-locks the license to the license device 180. This is because the second private key 186 is itself node-locked to the license device 180. Digitally signing the license with the second private key 186 also time-restricts the license to the current time, which is the current system time of the computing device in which the license device 180 has been inserted. This is because the digital signature process timestamps the digitally signed license with the current time. Modifying the license after digital signature would destroy the digital signature in that the license could no longer be authenticated against the second public key 187, and thus securely node-locks and time-restricts the license.
The user may be given the opportunity to verify the current system time of the computing device before the operating system 184 generates and digitally signs the license with the second private key 186. If the current system time is incorrectly in the past, the end user will be unable to avail him or herself of the entire license period, because a portion of the license period will have already passed. If the current system time is in the future, the end user will not be able to begin using the operating system 184 to run computer programs, and so on, until the future time has arrived. In some situations, however, the end user may wish to postdate the time at which the operating system 184 can be used in this manner.
Prior to digitally signing the license with the second private key 186, the operating system 184 may authenticate the second private key 186 against the first public key 183. If authentication fails, this means that that the second private key 186 or the first public key 183 may have been compromised on the license device 180, and therefore the license is not signed. Similarly, the operating system 184 may authenticate the first public key 183 if it is not self-signed, such as against the certificate authority that digitally signed the first public key 183, which means that the computing device will have to have network connectivity to communicate with the certificate authority. If authentication fails, this means that the first public key 183 may have been comprised, and therefore the license device is similarly not signed.
Execution of the operating system 184 causes the computing device to then delete the second private key 186 from the license device 180 once the license has been generated and digitally signed with the second private key 186 (128). The second private key 186 is securely deleted, so that it cannot be later recovered from the license device 180. The result of part 128 is that the license device 180 now stores the first public key 183, the second public key 187, and the operating system 184 (and no longer the second private key 186). Execution of the operating system 184 then causes the computing device to copy the digitally signed (and thus node-locked and time-restricted) license to the license device 180 (130), resulting in the license device 180 now storing the first public key 183, the second public key 187, the license 188, and the operating system 184.
At this time, the user may wish to use the operating system 184 (132) to run computer programs, and otherwise control the computing device for the reasons that the user acquired the license device 180 on which the operating system 184 is stored. The user may copy or install computer programs on the license device 180, for instance, and may then use these programs. Other computer programs may have been preinstalled at the factory. The user may further perform other setup and configuration of the operating system 184 if desired.
If the user uses the operating system 184 in part 132, the user at some point can cause the operating system 184 to shut down (134), permitting removal of the license device 180 from the computing device (136). The license device 180 can then be reinserted into the same computing device or inserted into another computing device to use the live distribution of the operating system 184 to again run computer programs in conjunction with the operating system 184. The user may instead not be permitted to or may not wish to immediately use the operating system 184 in part 132, in which case execution of the operating system 184 may cause the computing device to shut down, as in part 114 of
Referring to
Because the distribution of the operating system 184 is a live distribution, the computing device boots the operating system 184 directly from the license device 180 (144), without having to copy the operating system 184 to or install the operating system 184 on the computing device. Execution of the operating system 184 causes the computing device to authenticate the license 188 against the second public key 187 (146). If authentication fails, this means that the license 188 or the second public key 187 may have been compromised on the license device 180, and the method 140 prematurely terminates. That is, the operating system 184 may immediately shut down, and not permit execution of other computer programs on the operating system 184 and thus on the computing device in which the license device 180 is inserted.
Execution of the operating system 184 also causes the computing device to authenticate the second public key 187 against the first public key 183 (148). If authentication fails, this means that the second public key 187 or the first public key 183 may have been compromised on the license device 180, and the method 140 prematurely terminates. Execution of the operating system 184 may similarly cause the computing device to authenticate the first public key 183 if it is not self-signed (149), such as against the certificate authority that digitally signed the first public key 183. If authentication fails, this means that the first public key 183 may have been compromised on the license device 180, and the method 140 prematurely terminates.
Execution of the operating system 184 further causes the computing device to validate the license 188 against the license device 180 (150). That is, the operating system 184 verifies that the license device to which the license 188 is node-locked is the license device 180 inserted into the computing device. For example, the operating system 184 can verify that the unique identifier encoded in the second public key 187 is the unique identifier of the license device 180. If verification fails, this means that the license 188 may have been compromised, or may have been copied to a different license device than the license device 180, and the method 140 prematurely terminates.
Execution of the operating system 184 similarly causes the computing device to validate the license 188 against the current time (152). That is, the operating system 184 verifies that the current system time of the computing device in which the license device 180 has been inserted falls within the license period of the license 188 that began with the time at which the license 188 was digitally signed in
To prevent a user from backdating the current system time to in effect improperly extend the license period, the operating system 184 may securely record the current time every time the operating system 184 is booted in part 144. If the current system time predates the most recently secured recorded time (such as by more than a threshold), then the method 140 prematurely terminates. If the authentication of parts 146 and 148 (and part 149) is successful, and if the validation of parts 150 and 152 is successful, then the operating system 184 does not prematurely terminate, and the user can use the operating system 184 (154) to run computer programs and otherwise control the computing device for the reasons that the license device 180 storing the operating system 184 was acquired, as in part 132 of
At some point the user can cause the operating system 184 to shut down (156), permitting removal of the license device 180 from the computing device (158). The license device 180 can then be reinserted into the same computing device or inserted into another computing device to again use the live distribution of the operating system 184. Each time the operating system 184 is booted, the method 140 is repeated to authenticate the license 188 and the second public key 187 (and the first public key 183) and to validate the license 188 against the license device 180 and against the current time, before the operating system 184 can be effectively used.
The techniques described in relation to
Referring to
The method 200 includes generating a node-locked second cryptographic key pair and digitally signing the second key pair with the first private key of the first key pair (208). Part 208 is performed similar to part 108 of the method 100, but is performed by the computing device executing software other than the software 284 stored on the license device 180 (e.g., by the operating system and/or other software stored on the computing device itself). However, in another implementation part 208 is performed by executing the software 284 stored on the license device 180.
The method 200 includes storing the node-locked second key pair on the license device 180 (212). Part 212 is performed similar to part 112 of the method 100, but as with part 206 may (or may not) be performed by software other than the software 284 stored on the license device 180. In the implementation in which the first private key is copied to the license device 180, the first private key is securely deleted from the license device 180 before the second key pair is stored on the device 180. The result of part 212 is that the license device 180 now stores the first public key 183, the second public key 187 and the second private key 186 (i.e., the second key pair), and the software 284. The license device 180 can now be removed from the computing device (216), for providing to an end user or to a reseller that will provide the device 180 to an end user.
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Because the software 284 is standalone, the computing device can execute the software 284 directly from the license device 180 (224), without having to copy the software 284 to or install the software 284 on the computing device. Execution of the software 284 causes the computing device to generate a license and digitally sign the license with the second private key 186 (226). Part 226 can be performed similar to part 126 of
Execution of the software 284 causes the computing device to then securely delete the second private key 186 from the license device 180 once the license has been generated and digitally signed with the second private key 186 (228). Part 228 can be performed similar to part 128 of
At this time, the user may wish to use the software 284 (232) on the computing device in which the license device 180 is inserted. If the user uses the software 284, at some point he or she can exit the software 284 (234) (i.e., terminate execution of the software 284), permitting removal of the license device 180 from the computing device (236). The license device 180 can then be inserted into the same or different computing device to use the standalone software 284 to again run the software 284. The user may instead not be permitted to or may not wish to immediately use the software 284 in part 232, in which case the software 284 may automatically exit.
Referring to
Because the software 284 is standalone, the computing device can execute the software 284 directly from the license device 180 (244) without having to copy the software 284 to or install the software 284 on the computing device. Execution of the software 284 causes the computing device to authenticate the license 188 against the second public key 187 (246), and authenticate the second public key 187 against the first public key 183 (248). Parts 246 and 248 are performed similar to parts 146 and 148 of
Execution of the software 284 further causes the computing device to validate the license 188 against the license device 180 (250) and against the current time (252), similar to parts 150 and 152 of
At some point the user can exit the software (256), permitting removal of the license device 180 from the computing device (258). The license device 180 can then be reinserted into the same or different computing device to again use the standalone software 284. Each time the software 284 is executed, the method 240 is repeated to authenticate the license 188 and the second public key 187 (and the first public key 183) and to validate the license 188 against the license device 180 and against the current time, before the software 284 can be effectively used.
Referring to
The method 300 includes storing the node-locked second key pair on the license device 180 (312), as in part 212 of
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A license is generated and digitally signed with the second private key 186 (326), as in part 226 of
The second private key 186 is then securely deleted from the license device 180 (328), as in part 228 of
As noted, the license 188 may govern usage of software that is not stored on the license device 180. When the software is started on the computing device, it may perform the method 320 to generate the license 188. Once the license 188 has been generated and the license has been stored on the license device 180, the user may then use the software as intended. At some point the license device 180 can be removed from the computing device (336).
In one implementation, the license device 180 may be removed after the license 188 has been generated and stored on the device 180, even if the user is still using the software governed by the license 188. In another implementation, the software may periodically check for the license 188 during execution, in which case the license device 180 cannot be removed until after the software has been exited. The license device 180 may later be inserted into the same or different computing device to again use the license 188, such as to again run the software governed by the license 188.
Referring to
The license 188 is authenticated against the second public key 187 (346), and the second public key 187 is authenticated against the first public key 183 (348), as in parts 246 and 248 but by software not stored on the license device 180. The first public key 183 may also be authenticated (349) if not self-signed, as in part 249 but by software not stored on the license device 180. The license 188 is validated against the license device 180 (350) and against the current time (352), as in parts 250 and 252 but again by software not stored on the license device 180.
The software not stored on the license device 180 may have its usage governed by the license 188. If the authentication of parts 346 and 348 (and part 349) is successful, and if the validation of parts 350 and 352 is successful, then the user may use the software as intended. If the authentication in part 346 or 348 (or part 349) is unsuccessful, or if the validation of part 350 or part 352 is unsuccessful, then the software may terminate, preventing the user from using the software as intended.
At some point the license device 180 can be removed from the computing device (358). In one implementation, the license device 180 may be removed after successful authentication in parts 346 and 348 (and part 349) and after successful validation in parts 350 and 352, even if the user is still using the software governed by the license 188. In another implementation, the software may periodically check for the license 188 during execution, in which case the license device 180 cannot be removed until after the software has been exited.
Upon removal, the license device 180 can be reinserted into the same or different computing device to again use the software governed by the license 188. Each time the software is started, the method 340 is repeated to authenticate the license 188 and the second public key 187 (and the first public key 183) and to validate the license 188 against the license device 180 and against the current time, before the software can be effectively used.
Techniques have been described for providing a license device that stores a time-restricted license that is node-locked to the license device. The license is time-restricted to the time of first use of the license device by an end user (i.e., not at the factory). The license device can store standalone software, such as a live distribution of an operating system, that is executable directly from the license device upon insertion of the license device into a computing device. The license device stores the node-locked second public key that is generated at first use of the license device by the end user and against which the license is authenticated, and the first public key against which the second public key is authenticated.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2020/042850 | 7/21/2020 | WO |