Guardant Sign

A family of classic hardware keys for licensing and protection of software in Windows, Linux and macOS operating systems.

 

List of solutions, that include the product

 

• Desktop and server software
• Protection of software from reverse engineering
• Software sales management

 

Advantages

 

Protected Memory

Prevents unauthorized reading/modification of license, debugging and analysis of the logic of the key at the hardware level

 

Remote update mechanism

Allows to update a license key remotely without the possibility of substituting license parameters

 

Secure exchange protocol

Uses encryption based on unique session keys when transferring data between the application and the hardware key

 

Models

 

Guardant Sign

on request

The basic model in the classic form factor.

 

Guardant Sign micro

on request

A model in a miniature form factor for use on laptops and tablets

 

Guardant Sign SD

on request

A model with a removable microSD flash card for software distribution

 

Guardant Sign Net

on request

A model for protecting network software

 

Guardant Time

on request

A model with a battery to limit the software operating time

 

Guardant Time Net

on request

A model with a battery to protect network software and limit its operation time

 

 

Key operation scheme

 

Application protection scheme

The final application protection scheme depends on the specific task. However, the basic principle can be represented as follows:

 

• The application is "linked" to the license using automatic security tools or a special API;
• The license is securely stored in the key memory;
• During operation, the protected application constantly exchanges information with the key. If the key is missing or includes unsuitable or expired license, then the software does not work.

 

Thus, copying a protected program makes no sense, since without a key it becomes inoperable.

 

Principle of network protection

The mechanism for protecting and licensing applications in the network is as follows:

 

• A special intermediary program, the Guardant network license manager, is installed on a dedicated server or workstation;
• A network hardware key is installed on the same server or station;
• The application is protected either with the help of automatic protection tools or with the help of the Guardant Licensing API;
• The license manager and the key will strictly control the number of connections according to the licenses programmed by the developer.

Data protection in the network protocol is carried out at the hardware level, that is, it is encrypted on session keys generated between the protected application and the electronic key without any intermediaries.

 

Characteristics

Licensing models

 

Perpetual	√
Number of launches/uses	√
Limitation on functions/modules	√
Number of network (competitive) licenses with counting copies of the program / workstations/ connections	for "Net" models
Limitation of operation time	for "Time" models
Custom	√

 

Security mechanisms

 

Unique Key ID	in the key memory and on the case
Symmetric AES-128 encryption	√
Digital signature on ECC160 elliptic curves	√
Tunnel encryption of exchange protocol traffic	√

 

Operating mode

 

Supported Drivers	WinUSB, HID, Guardant driver
Supported OS	x86 and x64 versions of Windows XP and above x86 and x86_64 versions of Linux macOS
USB interface	1.1 and above

 

Memory

 

Protected memory for licenses	57 Kbytes
Independent flash memory	up to 64 GB in "Sign SD" models
Data storage period (protected memory / flash)	10 years

 

Clock

 

Real-time clock	for "Time" models
Average battery life	5 years
Clock error	up to 15 minutes per year

 

Guarantee

 

Key	3 years
Battery	1 year
Independent flash memory	1 year

 

Physical characteristics

 

Case color (standard)	green for Sign models black with green inclusion for Sign micro models blue for Time models
Key size	Full-size models 47x16x8 mm "Sign micro" model 18x16x6 mm
Key weight	Full-size models 6.3 gr. "Sign micro" model 4 gr.
Air temperature during storage/transportation	from -40 to + 70 °C, for "Time" models from +0 to +45 °C
Air temperature during key operation	from +0 to +45 °C
Relative humidity of the air	from 0 to 100% non-condensing