Capture of USB Dongle traffic?

I'm sure Win Hill would be glad to help you on this project.

But seriously, most of this stuff has encryption algorithms complex enough that no simple traffic analysis is going to help; the datastreams are never the same.

John

Care to explain exactly why you wish to do this? Please speak clearly and look directly into the camera....

If it wasn't nefarious, s/he would know that dongles that you buy, to incorporate into your own software creations, come with all the necessary software to do the handshake... my oldest son uses Rainbow Sentinel stuff.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
"Winners never quit, quitters never win", Jack Bradley Budnik ~1956

Google on: USB analyzer.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it\'s the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

With a black box, encrypted random handshaking etc I suppose it could be possible to determine the algorithm by observing the traffic for a long time. Probably a VERY long time, distributed-processing levels of power required. Depending on how complex the encryption is, I'd guess that it might be easier to etch the lid off the chip in the dongle and extract the encryption code for disassembly, or duplicate the dongles. As another mentioned, cracks are usually done via software patches anyway...the code is already there for disassembly.

That's true- however I would imagine that one attack scheme would be to observe the traffic to the dongle in order to identify places to patch the executable-- but I'm certainly no expert in the field.

Of course, that's assuming the OP has some nefarious intent-- perhaps s/he has a legitimate need to debug the transactions between a program s/he's written and a security dongle s/he's trying to incorporate.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it\'s the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

I still just can't get over the fact that "dongle" is a real word.

;-) Rich

Or tools : Yes, a logic analyzer does that for you. Not on the message level though. On the bit level.

Good luck.

Rene

--
Ing.Buero R.Tschaggelar - http://www.ibrtses.com
& commercial newsgroups - http://www.talkto.net

Or a legitimate need to run somebody else's software without the dongle.

Sort of like a legitimate need to use the bank's money without an account.

John

And what "legitimate need" might that be?

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
"Winners never quit, quitters never win", Jack Bradley Budnik ~1956

Now that's a "need" ;-)

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
"Winners never quit, quitters never win", Jack Bradley Budnik ~1956

John, will you kindly cut out the behind-my-back at-my-expense CRAP, supposed right-wing fun-making, or not? I've paid enough in honest Dongle fees *, without any attempts to cheat, to earn respect on that account.

• Over 0k.

--
 Thanks,
    - Win

OK, no sense of humor. OK.

But "right-wing"? How?

I might point out that you've said all sorts of disparaging stuff about me, some demonstrably untrue [1], and none has ever got me angry.

John

[1] Like calling me a Republican (no!) and a conservative (well, that's a lot fuzzier, but I'm awfully liberal in the classic sense.)

Running very expensive software on a much more expensive, but hardware-incompatible computer.

Or running it somewhere like a classroom where people keep stealing the dongles.

Or running it in more than one location without having to get someone to FedEx you the dongle because you left in a hurry.

Or general distaste for an industry that has managed to convince lawmakers (and quite a few of their customers too) that fair use doesn't exist; i.e., that we can't be trusted with the choice of whether to obey the laws.

I for one am thankful that there will always be iconoclastic European college students who can crack copy protection efforts just as quickly as they're developed. There should be an endowment for these kids.

may suit Don...

-- Don McKenzie E-Mail Contact Page:

Micro,TTL,USB to 1.5" color LCD

USB,RS232 or TTL to VGA Monitor World's smallest USB 2 TTL Conv

I'm sorry and I apologize for my ignorance. Are you a Libertarian, then? I assume you're not a Democrat. Or are you an Independent (which doesn't say much), like me?

--
 Thanks,
    - Win

The espouser of "legitimate need" seems to me to be looking for a free ride.

If you buy HSpice with an "expiry date", you deserve it ;-)

However I did get into the "vendor gone bust" situation once....

My son wrote me a little module that changed system date, loaded the software, and away I went. Upon closure the module changed the system date back, AND also corrected the dates of the created files.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
"Winners never quit, quitters never win", Jack Bradley Budnik ~1956

I'm not political, don't like political parties, dislike coercion, and I am uninterested in most forms of collective action. I think that the best I can do for the world is be good to the people with whom I am in direct contact. Microhumanism, if you will.

John