A birthmark-based method for intellectual software asset management

Abstract

The software industry has been increasingly aware of the need to employ copyright protection techniques against software piracy or illegal distribution. Recently, as the value of software as intellectual property grows, so does the rate of global software piracy. Software piracy is a real threat to software industry. Moreover, Pirated software is more vulnerable to attacks since such software is less likely to be supported with critical security patches and updates. In this paper, we propose a birthmark-based software asset management technique to keep track of the lists and licenses of software assets (on desktop computers, servers, and intranet network components), and then assure the legal use and regular inspection of software assets. A software birthmark is the inherent and unique program characteristics that can identify a program. Using software birthmark, we investigate what kinds of software are installed on the system, whether software is purchased from a vendor or pirated, etc. The proposed technique can (1) control copyright infringement of software and protect software intellectual property based on software birthmark, (2) reduce cyber vulnerability by letting employees use legal software, and (3) reduce the software management cost of organizations.