CodeMeter adds native support for Python code
Karlsruhe, Germany – Wibu-Systems, a global leader in protection, licensing, and security technologies, has added
support for protecting Python code in its native form with all of the ease and versatility of its popular CodeMeter
ecosystem. The Python programming language has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, particularly in the artificial
intelligence and machine learning fields, due to its simplicity as well as the clarity and elegance of the code.
The renewed interest in Python, however, has made it an appealing prey for unscrupulous actors. Python code often made
it too easy for hackers to access this invaluable IP, either wholly unprotected in plaintext form or simple to
reverse-engineer, even if precompiled in native form by tools like Cython. Developers needed to have the means to
encrypt and secure their code, but this long meant taking the additional step of pre-compilation to get native
applications that could then be treated with their favorite protection system.
Until now, this was the only option for loyal users of Wibu-Systems’ CodeMeter technology as well, but the company has
responded to the new interest in Python with a revolutionary way to protect the code. With CodeMeter’s new Python
protection capabilities, developers can encrypt their work in its original form, and keep it safe and encrypted right up
until it is actively needed, closing one of the all too common loopholes for hackers: Extracting the code from the
device’s working memory. With CodeMeter’s usual commitment to full compatibility, the new Python encryption technology
includes the standard, robust CodeMeter capabilities, ranging from its versatile array of licensing models and
comfortable automation features to the ability to add smart modular protections. Individual pieces of code can be
separately encrypted and licensed, giving developers even more freedom in choosing their operating concepts and business
models, including the increasingly popular feature-on-demand or subscription licenses.
Python had long been relegated to the sidelines by the usual languages of choice for the software developer community: C
and Java. But it has recently enjoyed a return to form as a firm favorite for developers, not only beating the myriads
of other, newer and supposedly smarter languages, but also overtaking its two old rivals in popularity surveys, like the
TIOBE index of preferred programming languages. With Python named the most popular language for a record fourth time in
2021, this revival is due to two very obvious factors: The language’s long-held commitment to simplicity and the great
availability of resources in one of the most dynamic fields of software development: artificial intelligence and machine
learning.
Smart devices have become ubiquitous in the digital age, and AI has long moved from being a thing of wonder or worry in
science fiction to an everyday, almost unnoticed companion for us all. It ranges from such deceptively simple tasks as
the image and speech recognition capabilities now included with many standard smartphones or digital assistants in the
home to more genuinely smart technologies underlying the statistical magic, pattern recognition and prediction
capabilities, or associative learning involved in complex operations like weather forecasting, algorithmic trading, and
medical diagnostics. What many of these applications have in common is that they are handled by Python libraries.
Ruediger Kuegler, VP Sales and Security Expert at Wibu-Systems, sees an important message in CodeMeter’s support for
Python: “As we celebrate 32 years of the World Wide Web and make it the main underlying backbone of all today’s
technologies, it is our duty to support lean and secure processes that facilitate the widespread adoption of protection
methods across a highly diversified user base. Like there is no technology assisted life without security, there is no
ubiquitous security implementation without simplicity.”