HD DVD and Blu-Ray encryption branded obsolete

BOFFINS AT Princeton University say that the recent release of software that can be used to decode encrypted HD DVD and Blu-ray movies is the first step toward making the encryption standard used by these next-generation video players obsolete.

Alex Halderman, a Princeton computer science student who, along with noted researcher Ed Felten, dubbed the release of the software “the first step in the meltdown of AACS."

According to InfoWorld, the software penned by Muslix64 last week does not give users a way to discover keys to unlock the encryption but it does provide a way to descramble content once the key is uncovered.

Halderman said that this is the framework through which the arms race is going to be fought. The hackers do not have the ammunition yet, but this was 'the gun' which would show how it should be done. He said that the AACS protection in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD was supposed to work better than the CSS (content scrambling system) encryption system used to protect DVDs from unauthorized copying.

Halderman said hackers will have cracks that they don't publish and which Hollywood is unable to revoke. Others will have cracks that they do publish, and which will work for all old disks.

He added that it's only a matter of time before the keys that can be used with BackupHDDVD become public and Hollywood will be faced with unauthorised copying of AACS-protected material. µ