**I Cracked a $200 Software Protection with xcopy**

**Disclaimer:** This article is for educational security research purposes only and should not be used to facilitate software piracy. I purchased a legitimate license for the software in question and conducted this analysis on my own property.

**The Case Study: Enigma Protector**

Enigma Protector is a commercial software protection system used by thousands of vendors, promising "serious enterprise security theater" with features like RSA cryptographic signatures, hardware-bound licensing, anti-debugging, and VM-based code obfuscation. I spent a day analyzing Enigma Protector's implementation, only to discover that the entire protection can be defeated with a simple command.

**The Unprotected Payload**

Bass Bully Premium is a VST3 synthesizer plugin protected by Enigma Protector. Upon examining the installed VST, I noticed something peculiar - there were no imports from the Enigma runtime library. In fact, the VST had no protection whatsoever. It was a clean JUCE framework build with no license callbacks or validation checks.

**The Backdoor**

It became clear that Enigma Protector only protected the installer, not the actual product. This is like putting a vault door on a tent - once files hit disk, the protection is basically useless. The entire crack can be summarized in one sentence: copy the installed files, and they will run on any machine without a license check.

**The Code**

I wrote a Python script to automate the cracking process:

```python import os

def copy_files(): # Copy the installed files to a new directory os.system("copy C:\\Program Files\\Bass Bully Premium* D:\\Temp")

# Load the cracked VST in FL Studio os.system("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\FL STUDIO 20\\FL.exe") ```

**Lessons Learned**

This case study highlights several important security lessons:

1. **Threat Modeling Matters More Than Fancy Cryptography**: While RSA signatures and HWID binding are impressive, they only protect the installer. The payload remains unprotected. 2. **Don't Rely on a Single Layer of Defense**: Enigma Protector's protection stack is incomplete if users need the installed files to run the software. 3. **Always Check the Payload First**: Verify what you're actually protecting before diving into complex crypto or threat modeling. 4. **The Simplest Attack Wins**: Sometimes, the crack writes itself.

In conclusion, Enigma Protector's $250 protection was defeated by a simple xcopy command because it only protected the installer and not the payload. This serves as a reminder that expensive protection systems are worthless if applied incorrectly.