I currently work evenings on a security system for a client. The thing that strikes me most, is the amount of work we do to prevent others from tampering with the system. In the end, all we do is making it more inconvenient for the hacker, a little bump on his road, a pause on his keyboard. There is no way you can prevent a persistent hacker to use 1 or all of the features in the program. Another client of mine, they have a license scheme, you won't believe, at the end of the day it's nothing but hiccups for any hackers out there trying to use some of the features in there apps. The time and money invested in these complex security schemes are absolutely dazzling and perhaps not worth it.
So why bother ? well first of all, it gives the honest paying end-user some sort of legit feeling, that this is the real thing he bought here, effort has been made to 'prevent' John Doe from using some exotic features, he can verify this by looking at his 15 digits long cryptic license key that shines bright on page 1 in the manual. 2nd, if it is worth protecting, it's worth buying right ?. I fly each month in a 737 boing or (others models from the same company:-)). I pay a substantial amount of money for my trips. The first 20 flights, I never gave it much thought, but the fact that you are paying money for these trips, doesn't mean you buy security and safetyness as well. There are about 10" between you and the blue sky. You would somehow expect things to be safe, when paying such money ?. It's safe all right, it is as safe as you want it to be, but if a pigeon comes crashing down on you, you will fall. Would you buy the ticket, if the salesperson told you, it's free and at your own risk ? no neither would I, so you pay money for that feeling, that feeling of being safe (and it's still at your own risk). You lock your doors at nights, you raise the bar in your apps thinking, that will teach them hackers, but it's just to satisfy that special feeling of being safe . It is impossible to keep them out. If they want to mess with your software and use your features for free, they sure can do it, all we do is merely trying to make it harder for the hackers by raising the bar a bit.
if you look up "security" in your dictionary is says: "a way of slowing down hackers".
"It is not these well-fed long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking."
-- Julius Caesar
10:30:40 AM 
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