Pirates manage to crack Windows 7 activation

[Broni]

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136086/Pirates_manage_to_crack_Windows_7_activation

Pirates have cracked Windows 7's product activation just a week after the operating system made RTM and a week before it's slated to reach users, Microsoft confirmed today.

The product key posted on the Web purportedly comes from Lenovo, one of Microsoft's major OEM partners, and allows users to activate downloaded copies of Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (release to manufacturing), which leaked to the Internet last week, shortly after Microsoft announced it had finished the operating system.

According to Windows enthusiast site Neowin, one of the first to report the crack, a Lenovo disk image of Windows 7 leaked to a Chinese Web site, then moved to English-language domains. Pirates proceeded to retrieve the master OEM key and the OEM activation certificate from the .iso file. Microsoft lets major computer makers like Lenovo, Dell and Hewlett-Packard pre-activate new PCs at the factory to save customers the hassle, and provides OEM master keys for that purpose.

Windows 7 uses an updated activation scheme, dubbed OEM Activation 2.1, which is an updated version of the activation software that first appeared in Windows Vista. The technology, ironically, has been the focus of a Microsoft lawsuit filed last January against a former employee charged with stealing company documents related to the anti-piracy software that computer makers use to lock Windows to their PCs.

The crack is not for the faint of heart, as it also requires a hack of the PC's BIOS; Activation 2.1 demands a BIOS that supports the new technology. In fact, forums on sites such as My Digital Life were full of questions from users unfamiliar with hacking a BIOS.

But scores of users on My Digital Life's forum have reported that the leaked key -- and the process that others laid out to use it -- activated their pirated copies of Windows 7 Ultimate. "Activated 3 computers with SLIC 2.1 (DELL) modified BIOS + DELL certificate for Vista + this key," said a user identified only as "thavmym."

This isn't the first time that Microsoft's copy protection technology has been cracked. Vista's activation has been hacked several times, and in volume sufficient to prompt Microsoft to issue updates that busted the most popular cracks. When it delivered Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), for example, it cracked down on a pair of cracks that pirates had been using to activate downloaded copies of the OS.

Microsoft acknowledged the crack today, but its reaction was in line with past takes on the topic. "We are aware of reports of activation exploits that attempt to circumvent activation and validation in Windows 7," said a company spokeswoman in an e-mail. "[But] Microsoft strongly advises customers not to download Windows 7 from unauthorized sources," she added, then reminded users that "peer-to-peer Web sites exposes users to increased risks, such as viruses, Trojans, and other malware and malicious code."

In May, a leaked copy of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) posted on file-sharing sites turned out to be infected with a Trojan horse.

Windows 7 is slated for public release Oct. 22, but subscribers to the for-pay TechNet and MSDN services will be able to download the final code, along with legitimate product activation keys, starting next Thursday.

[Quantos]

With the deals available, why the *censored* would you do this?

If you can afford internet you can afford the update.

[Broni]

Microsoft May Block and Blacklist 22TKD OEM-SLP Product Key for Windows 7 Crack

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/08/01/microsoft-may-block-and-blacklist-22tkd-oem-slp-product-key-for-windows-7-crack/



The just-leaked Windows 7 Ultimate SLP-OEM product key, i.e. 22TKD-F8XX6-YG69F-9M66D-PMJBM, may goes down in history to have the same fate with famous Windows XP corporate volume license product key, FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8, which was also leaked in warez no Windows XP activation VL copy by devils0wn 35 days before official retail release of Windows XP on August 28, 2001.



The FCKGW serial key is now obsolete and has been blacklisted by Microsoft since August 2004 with the introduction of Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation program. The 22TKD SLP-OEM product key, which been retrieved from a leaked Lenovo Windows 7 OEM preactivated DVD image, will be blacklisted and blocked, probably via WGA validation process (now together with Windows Product Activation or WPA is known as Windows Activation Technologies or WAT), according to Genuine Windows blog.

    The key is for use with Windows 7 Ultimate RTM product that is meant to be pre-installed by the OEM on new PCs to be shipped later this year. As such, the use of this key requires having a PC from the manufacturer it was issued to. We’ve worked with that manufacturer so that customers who purchase genuine copies of Windows 7 from this manufacturer will experience no issues validating their copy of Windows 7. At the same time we will seek to alert customers who are using the leaked key that they are running a non-genuine copy of Windows. It’s important to note that no PCs will be sold that will use this key.

The now famous 22TKD OEM-SLP product key has been the first known Windows 7 RTM activation crack that done properly, unlike the previous undesirable cracks that make use of frankenbuild style Windows 7 RC or even Windows Vista license files to replace original Windows 7 version, and uses the corresponding product key to activate Windows 7 RTM as Windows 7 RC or Windows Vista. The OEM-SLP product key, when paired with proper SLIC table in BIOS and OEM certificate, will activate Windows 7 offline instantly without going online to contact any activation server, just like any genuine copy of Windows pre-installed on any OEM PC.

It’s interesting what will happen when the product key is blacklisted via WGA. Technically, a SLP-OEM product key cannot be blocked without modification on Windows 7 validation code, unlikely as Windows 7 already been RTMed, and any change may affect other SLP-OEM keys for other computer manufacturers too. As such, WGA validation may detect a system that uses 22TKD for activation, and prompt that the system is not genuine, but the system will keep activated. Instead, WAT may look for a hack or activation exploit to present before blacklisting the key.

    Windows 7 already includes an improved ability to detect hacks, also known as activation exploits, and alert customers who are using a pirated copy. There is a hack that is said to enable, when paired with the leaked key, a system to install and use a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. Both the hack and the key are indications that a copy of Windows may not be genuine. The Windows Activation Technologies included in Windows 7 are designed to handle situations such as this one, and customers using these tools and methods should expect Windows to detect them.

Anyway, even if the leaked 22TKD OEM product key is blacklisted, ultimately a unblockable OEM-SLP product keys for Windows 7 that delivers with computer machine will be leaked when the goods are shipped in October.