Digital content piracy is still seen as a major threat by content owners and distributors, and the entertainment industry says it cuts deeply into the bottom line.
Seeking security protection above and beyond current digital rights management (DRM) tools, the industry is turning to new solutions such as Active Cloak, a new platform from software security and media technology company Irdeto.
It's designed to help protect and monetize digital entertainment assets, throughout their entire lifecycle and across a wide range of consumer devices.
With software development facilities in Ottawa, ON, the ActiveCloak solution addresses the secure playback of recorded content from a PVR to a PC and the secure streaming of VOD content from the Internet to STBs or iOS and Android devices.
It can be expanded to support to other popular media platforms, Irdeto says of its plans to extend ActiveCloak to protect eBooks, apps and games.
Irdeto's Cloakware technology is already used by content providers and technology companies like Netflix, Adobe, Sony, Logitech and Comcast, and the D-Link Boxee OTT box.
The system incorporates lifecycle security services to continuously monitor and manage potential threats throughout a piece of content's entire economic lifetime: smart client device agents proactively protect embedded or downloadable media applications from attack, the company describes, and a security server monitors the agents' integrity and provides them with security updates.
"Premium content is the lifeblood of the entertainment industry, and DRM alone cannot protect critical digital assets from the persistent attacks of today's savvy hackers. Whether you create the content or distribute it, it must be protected from every angle," said Graham Kill, CEO of Irdeto. "With ActiveCloak for Media, Irdeto will enable content providers to take advantage of these exploding market opportunities and monetize their content without jeopardizing content owner relationships and having to compromise their digital media business models."
While DRM systems use encryption and rights expressions to ensure that digital entertainment is used appropriately, the DRM itself is often a target for attack. Once the DRM is circumvented, the digital content is free for unauthorized copying and use. Even when implemented using modern device-specific hardware security, Irdeto says, DRM solutions are not able to withstand and recover from the attacks currently faced on today's increasingly open platforms.
ActiveCloak for Media elevates basic DRM platforms to take application protection to a new level with integrated renewability, diverse security and piracy monitoring for a wide range of popular content distribution platforms - including tablets, smartphones, iPads, PCs, connected TVs, game consoles and hybrid STBs.
"As the value of premium video becomes more important to both consumers and service providers who want to display this content on multiple 'smart devices' in current and future digital homes, so too the CAS/DRM technology must become more robust as content is handed off from one device to another," stated Gary Schultz, President and Founder, Multimedia Research Group. "ActiveCloak for Media is a solution addressing these heightened security issues that have and will prevail as multi-display of premium video becomes the norm in our digital homes."
Co-headquartered in Amsterdam and Beijing, Irdeto employs 1000 people in 25 locations around the world, including Ottawa. It is a subsidiary of multinational media group Naspers.