What Happens If a Customer's EA License Is Compromised

What "compromised" actually means

A **compromised EA license** falls into a few categories:

1. **Key sharing** — one paying customer activates on many unrelated accounts
2. **Key leak** — license posted in a forum, chat, or crack pack
3. **Binary crack** — protected build patched to remove checks; key optional
4. **Insider leak** — beta tester or affiliate distributes pre-release build

Each scenario needs a different **anti-piracy response**, but all share urgency: unchecked compromise trains the market that your product is free.

Step 1: Confirm and scope

Before reacting, gather evidence:

- Activation logs showing one key on many brokers or countries in 24 hours
- Support tickets from users saying "I found a free key online"
- VirusTotal or forum links to cracked `.ex5` / `.ex4` hashes
- Duplicate machine fingerprints on a single-seat license

Document key IDs, build IDs, first-seen leak date, and estimated exposure. Panic revokes without logs burn legitimate users on shared VPS IPs.

Step 2: Revoke Expert Advisor license access

**License key revocation** should be immediate for confirmed leaks:

- Disable the specific key at the licensing API
- Invalidate associated activations on next online check
- Block re-activation attempts from flagged accounts

For serial sharers, **revoke Expert Advisor license** seats individually before killing the whole key — lets you contact the paying owner to explain policy violation.

When the leak is a cracked binary, key revocation alone is insufficient. Proceed to build-level response.

Step 3: Rotate build binding

Identify the compromised build ID range. Mark those builds revoked in your protection dashboard. Ship a new protected version with:

- Fresh build signature
- Updated validation endpoint if the crack targeted a specific URL
- Optional stricter activation rules temporarily

Email paying customers: "Mandatory update v1.2.1 — security release." Legitimate users update; casual pirates stay on dead builds. This is the core loop to **prevent EA cracking** from becoming permanent.

Step 4: Communicate with honest customers

Transparency reduces refund requests. A short notice works:

- What happened (without glorifying the crack site)
- That paying users are unaffected after update
- Link to re-download from order portal or marketplace library
- Support channel for activation issues post-update

Do not blame customers publicly. If one key leaked, handle privately first.

Step 5: Harden policy and tooling

After containment, close the gap:

| Gap | Hardening |
| --- | --- |
| Unlimited activations | Lower default seats; add swap cooldown |
| No broker visibility | Alert on cross-broker activations |
| Slow revocation | Automate DMCA + build revoke playbook |
| Weak binding | Enable build binding on every release |

Review whether subscription products need shorter offline grace periods. Audit affiliate download access.

Legal and platform options

DMCA takedowns to file hosts and forum mods remove listings but not motivated crackers. Still worth doing — raises friction and shows buyers you enforce. Some **MT4/MT5 Expert Advisor marketplace** platforms help delist stolen goods if you sell there too.

Legal action makes sense only at high revenue tiers with identifiable infringers. Technical revocation plus build rotation solves 90% of retail incidents faster than courts.

When NOT to mass-revoke

Avoid blanket revoking all keys during a scare. Collateral damage:

- Refund spikes
- Forum backlash
- False positives on shared office IPs

Target surgical revokes first. Escalate to cohort revokes only when the entire build is universally cracked.

Building a response runbook

Keep an internal checklist:

1. Identify compromised keys/builds
2. Revoke in licensing admin
3. Publish bound replacement build
4. Notify customers + update marketplace listing files
5. Monitor activation metrics for 14 days
6. Post-mortem: how did leak occur?

Developers with runbooks recover in days. Developers without them debate on Telegram while downloads accumulate.

See pricing for plans with activation logging and revocation included — forensic data matters as much as prevention.