Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method and computer-usable medium for determining the authorization status of object code. In one embodiment, an application program embodied in an executable file is executed to periodically send a first data packet to a driver. A counter is decremented for each periodic interval in which the data packet is not received, and is reset in response to the data packet being received. The authorized status of the executable file is revoked if the counter reaches a predetermined value. In another embodiment, an application program generates a second data packet by creating a signature of the executable file and then encrypting that signature. The second data packet is sent to a driver for comparison with a previously-obtained packet. Thereafter, the authorized status of the executable file is revoked if a portion of the second data packet does not match the previously-obtained packet.