We got the scoop on our thread again, thanks all. We are fasteer than the print media!
techweb.com
Hacker breaks soft DVD encryption code
By
Las Vegas - In a move that could raise further questions about efforts
to prevent unauthorized copying of DVD titles, a hacker has posted on
the Internet a method of cracking the encryption code used to protect
DVD titles.
The decryption utility program, called softDVDcrack, has been posted in
recent weeks in various DVD newsgroups. It allows hackers to crack the
Content Scrambling System (CSS), a software encryption scheme licensed
by the DVD Forum.
The hacking method has appeared as the computer industry is on the verge
of adopting software decoding for PCs. While systems based on Intel's
300-MHz Pentium II now offer reasonable playback performance, many
observers said software DVD will become a reality when processor speeds
increase to 450 MHz next year.
Some companies, such as MPEG-2 hardware decoder maker C-Cube
Microsystems (Milpitas, Calif.), said the appearance of the rogue
software DVD decryption utility is evidence of the continuing need for
hardware-based DVD decoding. "We have CSS burned into our chip, so
there's no way to get to the decryption bit stream," said Clint Chao,
director of PC marketing for C-Cube. "This is what you need to do to
secure DVD today."
Even so, Chao said he is aware of companies that are designing hybrid
DVD systems that will enable hackers to make illegal copies of titles by
pulling decrypted, compressed DVD streams from the PCI bus before it
reaches the MPEG-2 decoder. |
