Why Some USB Devices Are Called Dongles (And What They're Used For)

If you own any kind of USB device, you have most likely heard about a dongle, but the term is actually very specific in what kind of devices it refers to.
GIGAZINE

An interesting record of breaking through a 40-year-old 'copy protection dongle': the dongle is required for compilation itself, but it can be unlocked with just a 4-byte patch

Protection hardware such as USB dongles are often used to protect software from copying. Dmitry Brant, a software engineer at the Wikimedia Foundation, successfully removed a 40-year-old copy ...
SourceSecurity

ASSA ABLOY - Aperio® Aperio PAP tool and wireless dongle software tool

Setting the time in the online components Adjustment of radio channels Configuration of the online components Firmware update for online and offline components Display of the configuration of the ...
MacTech

MakeDongle protects Mac software with a USB dongle

Excel Software has announced MakeDongle 1.0, which runs on Mac OS X, Windows or Linux computers. It generates a secure USB dongle that grants a license to run protected software on the attached ...