<s>
A	O
software	B-Device
protection	I-Device
dongle	I-Device
(	O
commonly	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
dongle	B-Device
or	O
key	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
electronic	O
copy	B-Application
protection	I-Application
and	O
content	B-Application
protection	I-Application
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hardware	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
programmed	O
with	O
a	O
product	B-Application
key	I-Application
or	O
other	O
cryptographic	O
protection	O
mechanism	O
and	O
functions	O
via	O
an	O
electrical	O
connector	O
to	O
an	O
external	O
bus	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
or	O
appliance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
software	B-Application
protection	I-Application
,	O
dongles	B-Device
are	O
two-interface	O
security	O
tokens	O
with	O
transient	O
data	O
flow	O
with	O
a	O
pull	O
communication	O
that	O
reads	O
security	O
data	O
from	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
absence	O
of	O
these	O
dongles	B-Device
,	O
certain	O
software	O
may	O
run	O
only	O
in	O
a	O
restricted	O
mode	O
,	O
or	O
not	O
at	O
all	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
software	B-Application
protection	I-Application
,	O
dongles	B-Device
can	O
enable	O
functions	O
in	O
electronic	O
devices	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
receiving	O
and	O
processing	O
encoded	O
video	O
streams	O
on	O
television	O
sets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Merriam-Webster	O
dictionary	O
states	O
that	O
the	O
"	O
First	O
known	O
use	O
of	O
dongle	B-Device
"	O
was	O
in	O
1981	O
and	O
that	O
the	O
etymology	O
was	O
"	O
perhaps	O
alteration	O
of	O
dangle.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Dongles	B-Device
rapidly	O
evolved	O
into	O
active	O
devices	O
that	O
contained	O
a	O
serial	B-Protocol
transceiver	O
(	O
UART	O
)	O
and	O
even	O
a	O
microprocessor	B-Architecture
to	O
handle	O
transactions	O
with	O
the	O
host	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
versions	O
adopted	O
the	O
USB	B-Protocol
interface	O
,	O
which	O
became	O
the	O
preferred	O
choice	O
over	O
the	O
serial	B-Protocol
or	O
parallel	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
1992	O
advertisement	O
for	O
Rainbow	B-General_Concept
Technologies	I-General_Concept
claimed	O
the	O
word	O
dongle	B-Device
was	O
derived	O
from	O
the	O
name	O
"	O
Don	O
Gall	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Efforts	O
to	O
introduce	O
dongle	B-Device
copy-protection	B-Application
in	O
the	O
mainstream	O
software	O
market	O
have	O
met	O
stiff	O
resistance	O
from	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
copy-protection	B-Application
is	O
more	O
typically	O
used	O
with	O
very	O
expensive	O
packages	O
and	O
vertical	O
market	O
software	O
such	O
as	O
CAD/CAM	O
software	O
,	O
cellphone	O
flasher/JTAG	O
debugger	O
software	O
,	O
MICROS	O
Systems	O
hospitality	O
and	O
special	O
retail	O
software	O
,	O
digital	B-General_Concept
audio	I-General_Concept
workstation	I-General_Concept
applications	O
,	O
and	O
some	O
translation	B-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
cases	O
such	O
as	O
prepress	O
and	O
printing	O
software	O
,	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
is	O
encoded	O
with	O
a	O
specific	O
,	O
per-user	O
license	B-Application
key	I-Application
,	O
which	O
enables	O
particular	O
features	O
in	O
the	O
target	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
USB	B-Device
dongles	I-Device
are	O
also	O
a	O
big	O
part	O
of	O
Steinberg	O
's	O
audio	O
production	O
and	O
editing	O
systems	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Cubase	B-Application
,	O
WaveLab	O
,	O
Hypersonic	O
,	O
HALion	B-Application
,	O
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
dongle	B-Device
used	O
by	O
Steinberg	O
's	O
products	O
is	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
Steinberg	O
Key	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
software	O
developers	O
use	O
traditional	O
USB	B-Protocol
flash	O
drives	O
as	O
software	O
license	O
dongles	B-Device
that	O
contain	O
hardware	B-Architecture
serial	B-Protocol
numbers	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
the	O
stored	O
device	O
ID	O
strings	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
generally	O
not	O
easily	O
changed	O
by	O
an	O
end-user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
developer	O
can	O
also	O
use	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
to	O
store	O
user	O
settings	O
or	O
even	O
a	O
complete	O
"	O
portable	O
"	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Not	O
all	O
flash	O
drives	O
are	O
suitable	O
for	O
this	O
use	O
,	O
as	O
not	O
all	O
manufacturers	O
install	O
unique	O
serial	B-Protocol
numbers	O
into	O
their	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
such	O
medium	O
security	O
may	O
deter	O
a	O
casual	O
hacker	O
,	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
a	O
processor	O
core	O
in	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
to	O
authenticate	O
data	O
,	O
perform	O
encryption/decryption	O
,	O
and	O
execute	O
inaccessible	O
binary	O
code	O
makes	O
such	O
a	O
passive	O
dongle	B-Device
inappropriate	O
for	O
all	O
but	O
the	O
lowest-priced	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
simpler	O
and	O
even	O
less	O
secure	O
option	O
is	O
to	O
use	O
unpartitioned	O
or	O
unallocated	O
storage	O
in	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
to	O
store	O
license	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
USB	B-Protocol
flash	O
drives	O
are	O
relatively	O
inexpensive	O
compared	O
to	O
dedicated	O
security	O
dongle	B-Device
devices	O
,	O
but	O
reading	O
and	O
storing	O
data	O
in	O
a	O
flash	O
drive	O
are	O
easy	O
to	O
intercept	O
,	O
alter	O
,	O
and	O
bypass	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
potential	O
weaknesses	O
in	O
the	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
protocol	O
between	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
and	O
the	O
copy-controlled	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
simple	O
implementation	O
might	O
define	O
a	O
function	O
to	O
check	O
for	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
's	O
presence	O
,	O
returning	O
"	O
true	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
false	O
"	O
accordingly	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
requirement	O
can	O
be	O
easily	O
circumvented	O
by	O
modifying	O
the	O
software	O
to	O
always	O
answer	O
"	O
true	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Modern	O
dongles	B-Device
include	O
built-in	O
strong	O
encryption	O
and	O
use	O
fabrication	O
techniques	O
designed	O
to	O
thwart	O
reverse	O
engineering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typical	O
dongles	B-Device
also	O
now	O
contain	O
non-volatile	B-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
essential	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
may	O
actually	O
be	O
stored	O
and	O
executed	O
on	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
dongles	B-Device
have	O
become	O
secure	O
cryptoprocessors	O
that	O
execute	O
program	O
instructions	O
that	O
may	O
be	O
input	O
to	O
the	O
cryptoprocessor	O
only	O
in	O
encrypted	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
secure	O
cryptoprocessor	O
was	O
designed	O
for	O
copy	B-Application
protection	I-Application
of	O
personal	O
computer	O
software	O
(	O
see	O
US	O
Patent	O
4	O
,	O
168	O
,	O
396	O
,	O
Sept	O
18	O
,	O
1979	O
)	O
to	O
provide	O
more	O
security	O
than	O
dongles	B-Device
could	O
then	O
provide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hardware	B-Architecture
cloning	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
is	O
emulated	O
by	O
a	O
device	O
driver	O
,	O
is	O
also	O
a	O
threat	O
to	O
traditional	O
dongles	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
thwart	O
this	O
,	O
some	O
dongle	B-Device
vendors	O
adopted	O
smart	O
card	O
product	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
widely	O
used	O
in	O
extremely	O
rigid	O
security	O
requirement	O
environments	O
such	O
as	O
military	O
and	O
banking	O
,	O
in	O
their	O
dongle	B-Device
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
more	O
innovative	O
modern	O
dongle	B-Device
is	O
designed	O
with	O
a	O
code	O
porting	O
process	O
which	O
transfers	O
encrypted	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
vendor	O
's	O
program	O
code	O
or	O
license	O
enforcement	O
into	O
a	O
secure	O
hardware	B-Architecture
environment	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
in	O
a	O
smart	O
card	O
OS	O
,	O
mentioned	O
above	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
ISV	B-Application
can	O
port	O
thousands	O
of	O
lines	O
of	O
important	O
computer	B-Application
program	I-Application
code	I-Application
into	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
dongles	B-Device
have	O
been	O
criticized	O
because	O
as	O
they	O
are	O
hardware	B-Architecture
,	O
they	O
are	O
easily	O
lost	O
and	O
prone	O
to	O
damage	O
,	O
potentially	O
increasing	O
operational	O
costs	O
such	O
as	O
device	O
cost	O
and	O
delivery	O
cost	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
unlicensed	O
titles	O
for	O
game	O
consoles	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
Super	B-Application
3D	I-Application
Noah	I-Application
's	I-Application
Ark	I-Application
or	O
Little	O
Red	O
Hood	O
)	O
used	O
dongles	B-Device
to	O
connect	O
to	O
officially	O
licensed	O
ROM	B-Protocol
cartridges	I-Protocol
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
circumvent	O
the	O
authentication	O
chip	O
embedded	O
in	O
the	O
console	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
cheat	O
code	O
devices	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
GameShark	B-Device
and	O
Action	B-Device
Replay	I-Device
use	O
a	O
dongle	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
it	O
attaches	O
to	O
the	O
memory	O
card	O
slot	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
disc	O
based	O
software	O
refusing	O
to	O
work	O
if	O
the	O
dongle	B-Device
is	O
not	O
detected	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
dongle	B-Device
is	O
also	O
used	O
for	O
holding	O
settings	O
and	O
storage	O
of	O
new	O
codes	O
,	O
added	O
either	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
or	O
through	O
official	O
updates	O
,	O
because	O
the	O
disc	O
,	O
being	O
read	O
only	O
,	O
cannot	O
store	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
dongles	B-Device
will	O
also	O
double	O
as	O
normal	O
memory	O
cards	O
.	O
</s>
