Unviewable+ for excel vba protection

[andrewkoay]

Hi all,

I'm seriously considering a purchase of Unviewable+ (it supposedly utilizes binary code level changing to protect code from being easily viewed). However, it seems to be still in beta, and there are little reviews over the internet? Has anyone bought it on this forum and if yes, could you share a bit more about your experiences with it?

 

[Kyle123]

I haven't bought it, but could read the code in the downloaded samples in under 30 seconds with no special software. As with most things like this, it's not worth the money

 

[andrewkoay]

I haven't bought it, but could read the code in the downloaded samples in under 30 seconds with no special software. As with most things like this, it's not worth the money

Could you elaborate how you did it?!

 

[Kyle123]

I think that would be a breach of the board rules, so unfortunately not.

I'm summary, without wrapping the workbook in an exe (something like lockxls) and even then it's possible but much more difficult to read code, I don't think a solution exists.

It really comes down to how important it is that no one can view your code, these solutions will keep out 95% of users, but you can't keep out the determined person.

This solution is not really any better than simply putting a password on the project

 

[andrewkoay]

I think that would be a breach of the board rules, so unfortunately not.

I'm summary, without wrapping the workbook in an exe (something like lockxls) and even then it's possible but much more difficult to read code, I don't think a solution exists.

It really comes down to how important it is that no one can view your code, these solutions will keep out 95% of users, but you can't keep out the determined person.

This solution is not really any better than simply putting a password on the project

That's astonishing and soul crushing! All my hopes just went down the toilet. Microsoft should REALLY provide some better VBA security or some tools for us to compile VBA code!

Have you managed to unlock all of the samples, including the multilayer and the ultimate protection files?

 

[Kyle123]

Yes, even the Ultimate protection add-in file.

The only way you get anything like security is to write your code in a language that compiles, so .Net, Vb6, C++ etc, compile it to a dll and then interface with that in your code.

Even that isn't bullet proof since .net compiles only to clr, but it's a different league of security compared to this kind of solution

 

[andrewkoay]

Yes, even the Ultimate protection add-in file.

The only way you get anything like security is to write your code in a language that compiles, so .Net, Vb6, C++ etc, compile it to a dll and then interface with that in your code.

Even that isn't bullet proof since .net compiles only to clr, but it's a different league of security compared to this kind of solution

That means probably the most effective method of protection is lots of dummy code and code obsfucation. But to be honest, a bit of debugging through obsfucated code would still enable the attacker to figure out the license checking code. This really sucks...

 

[Kyle123]

That's not what I said, I said the most effective method is writing your code as an addin that compiles. You need to be seriously determined to go through that, you also need to be very technically competent, you're talking about .05% of users, obfuscated code is just nasty and really not needed.

If your code is really worth so much, write it in a proper language, it'll likely be faster and will have access to more libraries - especially if you write it in something like .net

 

[andrewkoay]

How about an online solution? I can host the workbook online with my add-in, and allow access to the workbook and to run the macro, but users are not permitted to see any of the VBA code.

 

[Kyle123]

Nope, code doesn't work in online Excel & Re-writing as an online solution would be much, much more work than a desktop solution