Protection

Protect your software while enforcing the licenses you issue

Protection in AuthGuru enforces the licensing terms you issue against reverse engineering, tampering, and unauthorized use — the same terms defined in your license and entitlement data, not a separate security layer with its own rules.

Talk to us about protecting your software
The Problem

A license is only as strong as its enforcement

Issuing a license defines the terms — who can use your software, how, and for how long. But without enforcement, those terms are just a document. Reverse engineering, key sharing, and unauthorized deployment turn a licensing model into a formality rather than a real revenue-protection mechanism. Protection is what makes your entitlements and license terms technically binding, not just contractually stated.

What's Included

Protection, licensing, and everything in between

Protection combines encryption, device-level locking, hardware enforcement, and API-level control, applied to make unauthorized use genuinely difficult.

Encryption

Protects application binaries and sensitive logic using AES-256 encryption by default, configurable to specific customer security needs.

Machine-Locking

Ties a license to a specific device, also known as node-locking, preventing unauthorized copying to other machines entirely.

Hardware-Based Protection

Uses hardware keys to enforce protection where software-only methods aren't sufficient, especially in high-risk environments.

Developer APIs

Call protection functions directly from your application, so enforcement logic can be customized to your specific codebase.

Why It Matters

Why this matters beyond security

Protection affects more than security posture — it has a direct bearing on revenue, intellectual property, compliance posture, and how much time your team spends chasing unauthorized use.

Protects your revenue

Enforcement closes the gap between "licensed" and "actually paid for," capturing revenue your model is designed to generate.

Protects intellectual property

Proprietary logic stays harder to extract and replicate, keeping the engineering work behind your product genuinely yours.

Supports compliance posture

Enforceable licenses back up the reporting from your entitlement records, so audit answers hold up under scrutiny.

Reduces support and disputes

Fewer unauthorized-use edge cases means less time spent manually chasing down who's actually running your software.

How It Works

Enforcement runs on the same data as your license

Protection in AuthGuru operates on the same license and entitlement data issued through the platform — not a bolt-on security layer with its own separate rules. When a license is issued or an entitlement changes, protection enforces exactly those terms at runtime, across whichever license delivery method your product uses.

License & Entitlement
Protection Engine
Enforced at Runtime
Across any delivery method your product uses:
Software Key Hardware Dongle Cloud-Based
Who It's For

Built for publishers where unauthorized use is a real risk

Protection matters most once IP value, distribution reach, or real-world risk make unauthorized use something more than a theoretical concern.

Meaningful IP value

Publishers whose software represents real engineering investment worth protecting from extraction or replication.

Uncontrolled distribution

Publishers distributing into environments they can't fully control — offline, embedded, or third-party sites.

Risk turned real

Any publisher who has seen reverse engineering or unauthorized use move from theoretical to an actual incident.

Complex product lines

Publishers managing multiple products or tiers, where unauthorized access is harder to detect and trace manually.

Let's talk about protecting your software

Tell us about your product and deployment, and we'll show you how AuthGuru enforces your licensing terms in practice.

Start Conversation