Last year when the HDCP master key was leaked, Intel was not that bothered, stating that anyone who would like to use or crack the master key would need to be in the semiconductor business and create an expensive customized chip.
Unfortunately for them, that doesn’t seem to be correct. As Ruhr University’s Secure Hardware Group together with PhD student Benno Lomb, has now been able to crack the HDCP copy protection. Using a custom board they have created using a handful of inexpensive FPGA chips.
Details of the Custom Board
The custom board and full rig cost the team just a little over $200 to purchase and includes a Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA, equipped with an HDMI port and a serial RS232 communication port. It sits between the Blu-ray player and a flat-screen TV and is capable of decrypting traffic between the two without being detected. This setup is particularly noteworthy because it demonstrates that the security measures thought to be robust by Intel can be bypassed with relatively inexpensive and accessible technology.
The Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA is a versatile and powerful chip that is often used in academic and hobbyist projects due to its affordability and flexibility. The inclusion of an HDMI port allows the board to interface directly with high-definition video sources, while the RS232 port facilitates communication and control. This combination of features makes the board an ideal platform for experimenting with HDCP decryption.
Implications of the HDCP Crack
Germany’s Ruhr University of Bochum, led by professor Tim Güneysu, explains:
“Our intention was rather to investigate the fundamental security of HDCP systems and to measure the actual financial outlay for a complete knockout,” – “The fact that we were able to achieve this in the context of a PhD thesis and using materials costing just €200 is not a ringing endorsement of the security of the current HDCP system.”
This breakthrough has significant implications for the future of digital content protection. HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) is widely used to prevent unauthorized copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across connections like HDMI and DVI. The ability to crack this protection with such a low-cost setup raises questions about the overall effectiveness of HDCP and similar technologies.
For content creators and distributors, this development is concerning because it undermines the trust in HDCP as a reliable method of protecting intellectual property. If a team of researchers can bypass HDCP with a budget of just $200, it is conceivable that others with malicious intent could do the same. This could lead to an increase in piracy and unauthorized distribution of protected content.
On the other hand, this research also highlights the importance of continually evaluating and improving security measures. As technology evolves, so too must the methods used to protect digital content. The work done by Ruhr University’s Secure Hardware Group serves as a reminder that no security system is infallible and that ongoing research and development are crucial to staying ahead of potential threats.
The successful cracking of the HDCP master key by Ruhr University’s Secure Hardware Group demonstrates that even widely trusted security measures can be vulnerable to relatively simple and inexpensive attacks. This finding underscores the need for continuous improvement in digital content protection technologies and serves as a wake-up call for the industry to reassess the robustness of their security protocols.
Source: The H Security
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