Wibu-Systems' Awards

In its 20th edition, the GIT SECURITY AWARD 2025 honored innovative, economical, and impactful products and services within the safety and security sector, with users, readers, and industry participants casting their votes. Wibu-Systems received third place in the special category for its AxProtector CTP, a pioneering solution in software protection. AxProtector CTP uniquely combines compile-time obfuscation and encryption-based techniques to safeguard software on multiple platforms. Designed to thwart reverse engineering, it enhances security by obfuscating program code and encrypting control flow, making it nearly impossible for unauthorized parties to analyze or replicate sensitive algorithms.

The AI-NET project, recognized with the CELTIC-NEXT Innovation Award 2024, successfully demonstrated innovative solutions in telecom and network automation to accelerate digital transformation in Europe. The project, which saw the collaboration of 7 European countries and 98 partners, included significant contributions in edge data centers, AI-powered network automation, and federated learning models. Wibu-Systems focused on securing the integration of machine learning models and AI/ML solutions in network operations through cryptographic protection and secure elements, safeguarding the autonomy of next-generation telecom infrastructure. This groundbreaking approach has set new standards in network security and automation.

Wibu-Systems’ CmReady solution was nominated for its groundbreaking contribution to software protection and licensing management, tailored for memory card vendors and users. CmReady utilizes the unique hardware ID (UID) of memory cards combined with secure counters to prevent replay attacks. Integrating seamlessly with the CodeMeter licensing ecosystem, CmReady supports both Windows and Linux OS on Intel and ARM platforms. This innovation allows industry-grade memory cards to function as secure software license containers, eliminating the need for hardware-bound licenses and enabling flexible, portable software activation, marking a significant advancement in secure software deployment.

Established by the German Parliament and endowed by leading members of the German industry, the German Design Council has been dedicated since 1953 to boosting the competitiveness of businesses. The prestigious German Innovation Award, one of its initiatives, recognizes products, projects, and pioneering achievements that have made a sustainable impact on life through innovation and progress. Our recent success story includes AxProtector Compile Time Protection (CTP), which clinched the 2024 award in the Excellence in B2B category. Perfectly tailored for the IT / Functional Software sub-category, this newly launched solution integrates licensing and obfuscation to deliver security comparable to encryption-based tools.

CodeMeter Certificate Vault has earned a nomination for this prestigious award. This innovative solution offers secure storage of X.509 certificates and key material in a CodeMeter ASIC or USB-based dongle with integrated hardware security features, enhancing both security and performance in embedded devices. It simplifies the use of standard interfaces like PKCS#11 and OpenSSL, ensuring flexibility and interoperability. With CmASIC integration, it delivers a powerful and secure solution for embedded devices, complementing CodeMeter's licensing and software protection features. Vote for CodeMeter Certificate Vault in the automation category until 31 January 2024 and be part of this exciting recognition!

Germany’s most innovative and pioneering SMEs are selected each year in a rigorous screening process for the TOP 100 award, sponsored by compamedia and overseen by renowned innovation researcher Professor Nikolaus Franke. In 2023, Wibu-Systems won the prestigious accolade for the first time in its history, having proven its innovative qualities in over 100 criteria in the five categories that determine an innovation-friendly environment: top management, climate, processes and structures, openness and outward orientation, and practical success. The year’s new entrants in this club of excellence are celebrated at the award ceremony by Germany’s celebrity science communicator Ranga Yogeshwar.

Karlsruhe and IT excellence have become synonymous, and TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe, the local industry, academia, and local government group committed to promoting science and innovation in the city, is honoring promising new products, services, and business models in the field of cybersecurity with its popular NEO Innovation Prize. This year’s high-profile shortlist included one familiar name and a local pioneer in the field of cybersecurity: Wibu-Systems made it to the final selection for AxProtector Python, an achievement we consider a sign of appreciation for our successful transition of the popular CodeMeter protection technology into the AI world.

WIBU-SYSTEMS AG has a clearly defined purpose: To make lives safer and more secure – in both the digital and the real world. This is why Wibu-Systems has spent the last decade supporting projects of nph Kinderhilfe Lateinamerika, helping make the lives of people in Honduras and Haiti better with long-term initiatives like the provision of reliable and clean drinking water or new earthquake-proof school buildings for the rural population on the Caribbean island with its long story of natural disasters. It is for this commitment that WIBU-SYSTEMS AG has been given the Certificate of Appreciation of the LEA Mittelstandspreis, the corporate social responsibility prize awarded by the catholic and protestant churches and the Ministry of the Economy, Labor, and Tourism of the State of Baden Württemberg.

Hosted by MM MaschinenMarkt, the leading German and international source of news and information for manufacturers published by the Vogel Communications Group, the Best of Industry Award brings together more than 180 hopeful candidates in 23 categories. This year, Wibu-Systems was nominated in a strong field of contenders – the additive manufacturing category – for CodeMeter’s innovative way of securing the 3D printing process chain from the original design to the actual print job.

Every year, Computer&AUTOMATION, a publication of Weka Fachmedien for thought leaders and decision makers in the automation industry, calls on its readers to cast their votes for their products of the year. In a hotly contested competition for the 2022 award season, Wibu-Systems was proud to see CodeMeter as a nominee in the “Safety and Security” category for its new offerings for JavaScript: Encrypting, protecting, and licensing JavaScript code in its original form, with all of the ease and comfort of CodeMeter and fully integrated into the Wibu-Systems hardware, software, and service universe.

Since 2009, the Innovation Day event hosted by the Italian trade publication Selezione di Elettronica has been crowned by the formal presentation of the Innovation Award. Given to leading innovators in nine categories, this year’s award in the Embedded Systems class has gone to Wibu-Systems for CodeMeter Embedded and its support for the QNX operating system. As BlackBerry’s real-time OS for embedded systems has become a ubiquitous feature of our connected lives, running everything from smart driver assistance systems to medical devices and industrial machinery, the decision to bring CodeMeter protection to the QNX world is a perfect expression of Wibu-Systems’ commitment to excellence in IT security, protection, and licensing for all architectures, ecosystems, and use cases – made possible with the power, interoperability, and clever integration options of the CodeMeter technology.

Wibu-Systems is a regular contender for the annual GIT Security Award, presented by a high-profile jury of industry professionals for top innovations in the safety and security field. For the 2022 award, AxProtector Python has been nominated in the category “Safety, IT, and Cyber Security for Industry and Automation” in recognition of the technology’s revolutionary ability to encrypt and protect Python applications in their original code. AxProtector Python brings the whole power and comfort of CodeMeter Protection Suite to the Python world, adding that much-needed layer of security for a language that is increasingly popular in modern advanced IT use cases like AI and machine learning.

Wibu-Systems first took the German Innovation Award for its protection and licensing technology in 2021. The jury of the German Design Council was won over by the novel CmCloudContainers, which provide connected CmCloud users with access to their software anytime, from anywhere. CmCloudContainers are the latest member of the CodeMeter licensing container family after the hardware-based CmDongles and the software-based CmActLicenses; with them, software publishers can deliver unparalleled freedom to address the increasingly mobile requirements of their users.

The European IT & Software Excellence Awards have been designed to recognize and reward excellence in European software development, IT, and telecoms provision, and ultimately to demonstrate vendors’ ability to deliver industry-leading IT solutions to their market. Wibu-Systems has been named finalist in the Security Solution of the Year category of the Solution Provider cluster for CodeMeter, the company’s technology with a proven track record of optimizing software monetization strategies and paying back the initial investment many times over from the very first year of its implementation.

Embedded Computing Design’s Best in Show Awards highlight the most innovative products on display at leading tradeshows, conferences, and events dedicated to embedded technology, modern industry, the Internet of Things, AI / machine learning, security, and power electronics. Once they pass the judgment of the Embedded Computing Design editorial team and advisory board, the judges review all nominations for the criteria of design excellence, relative performance, and market impact. Up to three winners are selected in each category based on their cumulative scores. At SPS – Smart Production Solution 2019, CodeMeter Certificate Vault topped the field, showing its disruptive potential in the IIoT business.

The most coveted European prize in the automation industry is awarded each year at SPS – Smart Production Solutions. The jury, consisting of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Oliver Riedel from the University of Stuttgart, Peter Frueauf in representation of representing the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), and Michael Corban, editor-in-chief of the trade magazine elektro AUTOMATION, have selected a total of 10 products out of the 22 applications received. Visitors of the trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany, voted for their favorites from the Top- 5 nominees in the categories Control Technology & System Solutions and Standard Components & Sensors. CodeMeter Certificate Vault Wibu-Systems‘ solution to roll out secure certificates automatically, came in as a strong runner-up, proving the need for a secure way to identify people and machines in the digital age.

Every two years, a dedicated jury of academics from the Technology Region Karlsruhe in cooperation with the foreign trade committee of the local Chamber of Commerce assigns the GLOBAL award to regional companies for their successful efforts at deepening international trade relations. At this year’s ceremony, which hosted H.E. Takeshi Yagi, Japan’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, Wibu-Systems won the foreign trade prize for its business expansion into global markets. The jury took into great consideration important criteria like Wibu-Systems’ technological innovations, track record of success abroad, openness to intercultural relations, and ability to adapt to foreign markets. Founded in 1989 with a strong German pedigree, Wibu-Systems currently operates subsidiaries in the USA, China, and Japan as well as sales offices across Europe. Direct exports account for 55% of the company’s total revenues, but, considering the additional sales of distributors, international offices, and German customers, the export share reaches almost 80%.

The magazine Selezione di Elettronica, published by the Italian editing house New Business Media, has been following the electronics sector from its privileged position since 1957 in terms of both current technological solutions and their applications. Each year, the editorial staff of Selezione di Elettronica (journalists, engineers, and experts in the field) selects a number of significant products from the many applications received for the Innovation Award, a contest that aims to give visibility to the most innovative electronic technologies that hit the news during the previous twelve months. Online readers of the magazine website then pick their preferences, voting for the best product for each category. The three nominees in each category are finally submitted to a panel of judges, consisting of journalists, technicians from user companies, academics, and experts in the field. At the tenth edition of the Innovation Day 2019, CodeMeter won the Innovation Award in the embedded system category.

Each year, the editors of ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS, a popular German trade magazine covering electronics management, hardware and software development, component procurement, and electronics production, celebrate the electronics pioneers that are making history with their technological achievements and entrepreneurial merits. In the 2019 edition, the founders of eight companies were recognized for their lifetime accomplishments, and Wibu-Systems won in the Security category. Two criteria were decisive for the selection: outstanding inventions and developments in our field of expertise and the current market significance in our market segment.

For the iF DESIGN AWARD 2019, the 67 independent international members of the iF International Forum Design jury have carefully screened 6,400 entries from 50 countries and assigned this prestigious prize to CmStick/B in the Computer category of the Product discipline. CmStick/B is the most elegant, compact, and sturdy hardware secure element of the entire CodeMeter portfolio. It was chosen for its unique innovation, functionality, and aesthetics traits. Immediately following the award ceremony, the unit will go on display for three months at the iF Design Exhibition in Hamburg, Germany, and will be featured in the “Design Excellence” section of the iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE.

VDE Verlag, the German specialist publisher for electrical engineering and information technology, in collaboration with ZVEI, the association representing the economic, technological, and environmental interests of German small to medium-sized enterprises in the electrical industry, and Hannover Messe, the world’s leading industrial technology show, is calling for votes on the Industrie 4.0 Innovation Award. In the first round, all submissions received were reviewed by an independent jury of experts that left only the ten best Industry 4.0 innovations for the public’s scrutiny: CodeMeter is among the top nominees for the secure storage of certificates and keys, also in combination with OPC UA, the protection of software on I4.0 devices, and the encrypted and signed transmission of machine, production, and configuration data.

Each year, the readers of Markt&Technik, a highly popular electronics magazine mainly distributed to a German-language audience, are called to elect the Managers of the Year. More than 7,000 readers took part in this year’s poll and appointed the leading executives of our times. Oliver Winzenried was selected among the Pioneers and Innovators category, a choice that matches perfectly with his front-running and forward-looking role in today’s technological landscape.

Each year, a jury of industry experts screens the entries for the most ingenious, original, and radical innovations that are transforming embedded hardware, software, and tools. Blurry Box, the avant-garde software protection method with publicly provable security features, was chosen as one of the three nominees for the Software category of the Embedded Award 2018. 

In its 42^nd year, the Electronic Products’ “Product of the Year Awards” continue to recognize the best products in the electronics industry. The editors of this prestigious publication have chosen 12 winners from thousands of submissions. The selection was based on a significant advance in technology, innovation in design, or gain in price/performance. Blurry Box has won in the “Development and Software Tools” category showing that the seven different encryption methods included in this new software cryptographic scheme can make code theft more expensive than development.

A jury made up of scientists, representatives from VDMA (the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association), members of ZVEI (one of Germany’s major manufacturers’ association), and the editors of the elektro AUTOMATION magazine had already nominated CmStick/BMC as one of the top five nominee products for the Automation Award 2017. The public of SPS IPC Drives 2017 voted on site and ranked our newest secure hardware element third in the Components category. CmStick/BMC represents the quintessential quintessence in engineering and miniaturization, bringing robustness, compactness, and elegance to a level the world had yet to see.

The SIIA CODiE Awards are the premier awards for software and information industries, and have been recognizing product excellence for over 30 years. Unprecedently, CodeMeter has received acclaim in two SIIA Business Technology CODiE Awards tiers, winning as the Best Content Rights & Entitlement Solution and being named finalist in the Best Endpoint Management Solution category. This achievement underlines its flexible and agnostic capability to provide top-notch protection mechanisms and enable versatile licensing-based monetization opportunities for software publishers and intelligent device manufacturers.

Each year, the Embedded Computing Design team selects the most influential and innovative people in the embedded arena. In 2017, Oliver Winzenried, CEO and Founder of Wibu-Systems, has been named one of the Top Embedded Innovators of the year, alongside Kristin Russell, Global President of Arrow Intelligent Systems, and Bill Mensch, CEO and Founder of Western Design Center. In the arms race to secure embedded and IoT systems, Wibu-Systems introduces Blurry Box, a new encryption method based on Kerckhoffs’ Principle that increases complexity exponentially for hackers.

CodeMeter µEmbedded, the Wibu-Systems’ CodeMeter variant especially made for software developers to protect application code and intellectual property against reverse engineering on microcontrollers and Field Programmable Gate Arrays, won the third place in the annual Electronic Product of the Year competition led by the German publishing group WEKA. The award ceremony is the final highlight of a selection process in which the editorial team of Elektronik screened all the most recent innovative and forward-looking products and left their readers the final vote among 111 picks.

The Alliance Industrie 4.0 of Baden-Wuerttemberg has identified the champions of Industrie 4.0 that are innovating the industrial landscape in the Baden-Wuerttemberg region and supporting the transition of small and medium enterprises into truly connected industry with their ingenious innovations. CodeMeter has been awarded for its technological and monetization value. By promoting security in cyber-physical systems and new business models, Wibu-Systems is establishing its technology as a cornerstone for the advancement of Industrie 4.0.

CodeMeter Secure Licensing Platform wins important industry recognition and is named SIIA Business Technology CODiE Award Finalist for Best Content Rights & Entitlement Solution. The acknowledgment is the result of CodeMeter's extreme versatility on multiple fronts that both ISVs and end users can enjoy: the storage of encryption keys on soft, hardware and cloud repositories, online and offline deployment options, flexible license transferability, 24/7 traceability, and support for numerous platforms.

Oliver Winzenried, CEO and founder of Wibu-Systems, has been elected Manager of the Year in the category of Automation. The readers of the weekly newspaper Markt&Technik have cast more than 3,000 votes to select the top managers of 2015. For each of the six categories (Semiconductors, Electro-mechanics, Power Supplies, Embedded Systems, Automation and Measurement Technology), the top three nominees have been awarded. This represents a wonderful show of appreciation for the entrepreneurship of Mr Winzenried’s career.

“Secure Plug and Work” was awarded the Innovation Award NEO2014. The project is the result of joint development activities of several partners, coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation (IOSB). The goal is to develop a practical approach for smart factories, regulated by standardized data communication methods, and implementing safety and security techniques by default. In particular, CodeMeter^® is being integrated to preserve data integrity.

GIT SECURITY covers safety and security topics, for both the private and the public sector. From manufacturers and distributors to the end user, everybody can stay at the leading edge of progress in management, security, Information Technology, fire protection and safety.

CodeMeter from Wibu-Systems was nominated for the GIT SECURITY AWARD 2015 in the Safe Automation category.

CodeMeter has made its way to the very top and has won the CODiE Awards 2014 for the “Best Content Rights and Delivery Solution” category. This token of recognition underlines 25 years of passion and dedication spent to provide the utmost licensing flexibility and the impenetrable protection no hacker contest could ever break up. With this new breakthrough, CodeMeter is setting the standard for innovation and quality in the media, publishing, information service and embedded markets.

CmStick/C Basic has been on the market since the spring of 2011 and is the world’s smallest CodeMeter dongle. Its design has been kept simple: it has minimal dimensions, with its case only exceeding the metal USB connector by a few millimeters. It is intended to be left plugged into the laptop or built into an embedded device.
The new CmStick/C with keyring can be attached to any number of keys and easily removed from the USB socket. CmStick/C has the same functionality as other CodeMeter variants based on the smart card chip.
The CmStick/C's design also convinced the jury of the Most Successful Design Awards 2011 who awarded it a design prize.

The Karlsruhe-based company Wibu-Systems won the first prize in the Baden-Wuerttemberg Safety Awards 2011. The jury was convinced by its solution, which protects software and know-how against piracy. Oliver Winzenried, CEO and founder of Wibu-Systems, received the "Safety Award 2011" prize and certificate on 24 March 2011 at the Eltefa trade fair in Stuttgart, Germany from the President of the State Office for Constitutional Protection of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Beate Bube.
Pro-Protect is a convincing solution which, for the first time, simultaneously protects embedded software, service documentation and production data in industrial machines in a cost-effective and standardized manner. Pro-Protect lets companies focus on their direct revenues, secure in the knowledge their know-how is protected and that they will maintain their competitive edge for longer.

Wibu-Systems' various international awards have shown that the company knows how to successfully combine design, function, usability, and innovation.

Once again, Wibu-Systems was a finalist in the "Best Digital Rights Management Solution" category of the 2011 CODiE Awards. The prizes were awarded by the international jury of the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA).

Wibu-Systems was nominated for the CODiE Award in the "Best Digital Rights Management Solution" category by the international jury of the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA).

At the Software Information Industry Association's (SIIA) prestigious awards ceremony, Wibu-Systems was presented the association’s coveted CODiE award for the Best Digital Rights Management System category. Wibu-Systems received the award for developing CodeMeter, known and favored the world over for securing software, documentation, and media and controlling access to Internet-based applications.

Shanghai – For eight years now, the renowned FORTUNE Magazine has been awarding the "China’s Most Successful Design Award" to outstanding companies. In 2008 Wibu-Systems took part in the competition for the first time. Companies from more than 60 countries participated with more than 160 entries. Wibu-Systems was awarded a prize for its 2 GByte CodeMeter Stick Metal Edition This award from FORTUNE Magazine reflects the company's ongoing commitment to design quality: other prizes awarded to Wibu-Systems in this area include the “iF product design award” and the “Design Prize of the Federal Republic of Germany.”

“I am very proud that our products combine two features which are important to our customers: an extremely secure software protection system and an attractive product honored for its design by such a famous magazine as FORTUNE,” said Mr Hado Brockmeyer, Manager of the Chinese office of Wibu-Systems when receiving the award.

CodeMeter was once again been singled out by the international jury of the SIIA Codie Awards for 2007 as one of the top-5 products in the "Best Digital Rights Management" category, for which it had already received an award in 2005. As a finalist in this year's awards, once more CodeMeter received this important sign of the industry's recognition and had the chance to be selected as a winner in this category by the members of the Software and Information Industry Association - SIIA. The best products were announced during a gala in San Francisco, USA on 17 April 2007. The German WIBU-SYSTEMS AG as manufacturer of CodeMeter was represented by its American subsidiary WIBU-SYSTEMS USA, Inc.

The German dot.NET magazine hosted another installment of its readers' choice award. The readers of dot.NET were asked to choose their favourites from 12 categories and more than 100 products.
WibuKey from Wibu-Systems was awarded first prize for the first time in the "Best Tool for Copy Protection" category.

For the second time running, Wibu-Systems, a leading manufacturer of hardware based protection solutions for software, documents, access rights, and media, was nominated as a finalist by the international jury of the SIIA Codie Awards 2006 championing CodeMeter in the category "Best Security Software". The final round of nominations included five products from around the world. The members of the Software and Information Industry Association - SIIA voted on the best products, with the winners awarded the "Oscar" of the software industry at a gala event in San Francisco, USA on 16 May 2006.

The CmStick USB device was celebrated as "Product of The Year for 2005" in the "Embedded Design" category by the German trade magazine "Elektronik". The magazine's editors nominated a total of 111 products, from which readers chose the top products in each category. CmStick won the prize because of its benefits to both software vendors and users. Software vendors can protect their products reliably against piracy, and  users benefit from the various PC security features. The award ceremony took place in Munich, Germany on 13 March 2005.

Oliver Winzenried, CEO of Wibu-Systems, had reasons to be pleased: "From nothing to the very top! I am excited that the CmStick has proven to be a favorite right from the start and that the voters, both software vendors and users, are convinced by its security functions. The insides of a CmStick are particularly special: an extra chip-size-package was developed for two chips in which a smart card chip and a fast USB 2.0 controller are piggybacked together. This method alone can combine security with mass storage in the smallest possible area."

The CmStick/M USB device, developed by Wibu-Systems, won the coveted international "iF product design award" at CeBIT 2005. There were no fewer than 2322 applicants for the popular design award, which was presented to 542 products in 18 different categories. The CmStick/M went on display with the other winners as part of the iF Exhibition at the Hanover Exhibition Center in Germany from March 10 to September 2005.

Wibu-Systems was immediately selected among the finalists in its first year of participating in the SIIA CODiE Awards. This year's competition marked the twentieth anniversary for the CODiEs and was hosted by the American Software and Information Industry Association - SIIA to celebrate the world's best products and services in the software industry. CodeMeter was nominated in the category "Best Digital Rights Management Solution: Software". The final round saw Wibu-Systems as the only European and German company competing against four American companies.