software protection tips guidesIn today’s digital age, software is a huge part of modern life for consumers and for businesses. While this means that it can be a highly profitable industry to work in, it also means that it is an industry which is always under threat. Cybercrime and software piracy are particularly prevalent with constant new threats being developed which can be a huge concern for developers. Fortunately, there are a few ways that you can protect your software which will help you to develop with confidence and provide a high-quality product for your customers. Here are a few of the more effective methods for protecting your software.

Licensing

Perhaps the most obvious way to protect your software is through licensing. A software license manager is capable of protecting software from piracy with license keys which must be valid according to the software library in order for the program to be validated. There are also few licensing strategies to adopt, including:

  • Free trial versions
  • Restricting use to one computer/device
  • Selling software on a recurring basis

Licensing Agreement

You should also include a click-through licensing agreement that clearly outlines the Terms of Use, even for trial versions. This can provide important legal protection if somebody misuses the program while deterring those that look to exploit software.

Copyright

Another important method for protecting your software is to obtain a copyright before distribution. This will protect the actual code that the software is made up of and possibly the graphic interface. This gives you greater control over the use of the software and could stop individuals from copying, selling it to someone else, modifying the software or from renting the software without your permission. It is important to be aware that if somebody develops software that serves the same function and has the same feel but uses a different code, then you will have no legal standing.

Patented

This is where patent law comes into play. Patent law protects the functional form of the software which will provide legal protection from someone creating software with the same purpose even if differing coding has been used.

Use Containers

Using containers to package software brings many advantages, with enhanced security being just one. This is because you are able to reduce functionality in the container to the bare minimum to minimize your attack surface and reduce the likelihood that the remaining elements will be exploited. There are also container security best practices to follow to enhance software security, such as:

  • Setting filesystem as read-only
  • Implementing multi-stage builds
  • Leveraging CAP DROP and CAP ADD

These are the key steps to take to protect your software. It is important to recognize that there is no complete solution to protecting your software as once it is distributed it is then in the hands of the customer and the software will be installed on their computer. This means that you need to make it as difficult as possible for them to misuse the software which you can do with the above methods.