How do you hide secret keys in code?

Question

I\'ve wondered for some time how some software hides secret keys in such a way that they can\'t be trivially discovered. Just a few examples:

• DVD Player Softwa

Answer 1

You don't always need a key to validate a license.

But ignoring that fact, your key can also be the result of another function. You don't actually store a specific key value, instead you have a function that generates the key on the fly (always the same result). Although not impossible, it's much harder to find since you're no longer looking for a value, but you have to figure out it's an equation.