Microsoft is stepping up its fight against unlicensed software and corporate piracy by making TPM 2.0 security modules mandatory for KMS activation servers to prevent the use of counterfeit and cloned hosts.
Microsoft is stepping up its fight against unlicensed software and corporate piracy by making TPM 2.0 security modules mandatory for KMS activation servers to prevent the use of counterfeit and cloned hosts.
This is reported by PC Gamer.
The key change concerns the Key Management Service (KMS), which companies use to mass activate devices on internal networks. The popularity of this system has made it a prime target for hackers and free software enthusiasts: attackers have learned to forge and clone KMS server software, creating fake hosts to bypass licensing protection.
To block this shadow activation scheme, Microsoft is implementing a hardware-level security check. Under the new scheme, the KMS host will pass its credentials to the TPM 2.0 chip. Only after confirming that the server is running on verified hardware without evidence of tampering or code modification will the system be allowed to activate devices.
«Starting with future versions of Windows Server, KMS hosts must confirm that they are running on tested, uninfected hardware before activating clients,» Microsoft emphasized.
The new restrictions will primarily affect illegal infrastructures in the corporate sector, where KMS hacking allowed hundreds of computers to be activated without purchasing licenses. Ordinary PC users with legal operating systems will not be affected by these changes.
Starting in August 2026, Windows Server 2025 will introduce hardware readiness alerts to help system administrators assess the health of their servers in advance and plan for a transition to a secure hardware platform before the requirements become mandatory.
The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 has been a mandatory system requirement for Windows 11 since 2021. Now, Microsoft is expanding the use of this technology to close fundamental vulnerabilities in volume licensing mechanisms.
