AACS high-def-disc copy-protection cracked already?

[Bob Crabtree]

It's starting to look like someone has cracked the AACS system used to protect commercial movies distributed on the HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc high-definition-disc formats!

A thread on the Doom9 forums details the astonishingly speedy development process of the beta version of the cracking tool. The thread includes links that let you download the Java-based command-line tool for Windows in a miniscule (18KByte) Zip file.

Find out more in this HEXUS.lifestyle.headline, then share your thoughts with us here.

[Steve]

It's not so much cracked, rather Cyberlink left a window open with the title keys (and evidently the VUK) present in memory, and muslix64 found them. His app basically takes the data from the HD-DVD, along with the key (that it must be given, I *think*, I obviously can't run it) and uses the standard AES methods in the java libraries to decrypt it. It must, of course, be output in the right format so that it's still playable, but that's no biggy in big scale of things.

Still, great to see just how weak all this copy protection ultimately is. It'd also be nice if muslix64's reasoning for doing it is genuine. I hope it is, as it constitutes a 1-up for consumers told they can't watch particular content unless they fork out yet more cash.

[DeSean]

lol

[Funkstar]

according to a couple of comments ive read in other places, PowerDVD having the keys in memory is perfectly acceptable according to the standard.

[Steve]

according to a couple of comments ive read in other places, PowerDVD having the keys in memory is perfectly acceptable according to the standard.

If that's so, then it's completely useless protection. It's my system RAM, I can look at what's in it if I like, and I'll be damned if anything's going to stop me... oh wait, a TPM probably will.

[frumpet]

It was inevitable that AACS would get cracked. Just as any future encryption method will be.

[Funkstar]

If that's so, then it's completely useless protection. It's my system RAM, I can look at what's in it if I like, and I'll be damned if anything's going to stop me... oh wait, a TPM probably will.

this could be completely wrong, but this is the post on Slashdot i got it from:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comment...6&cid=17384830

[DeathByDuke]

If that's so, then it's completely useless protection. It's my system RAM, I can look at what's in it if I like, and I'll be damned if anything's going to stop me... oh wait, a TPM probably will.

Or a sony rootkit :/

[CrazyMonkey]

Its good Java thats all i can say, im waiting for update on the 2nd.

Excellent use of Java though the code is very nicely worked, and gratz to him finding that loophole.

[madmobile]

That's fast.
Hackers are moving as fast as the copy-right technology.

[nvening]

well dvd was cracked pretty quickly too

[zag2me]

Even better is now that a few of the keys are known, it is pretty easy to reverse engineer the algorithm and then the flood gates will really be open.

[Funkstar]

it's not as easy as with CSS on regular DVDs. CSS was pretty weak and had several flaws as well.

In the other thread on this subject there has been a few very interesting posts by chrestomanci

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.p...highlight=aacs

[alsenior]

like it is said

"made by man,brakeable by man"

i belve it is only a matter of time before this system is broken so far open that it that any attempt to fix it will fail. it will end up like dvd. im sure for every 1 person in the industrys working on these systems. there are 10 people out there working to break it.