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An alleged copy of an Ultra HD Blu-Ray disc has appeared online, leading to speculation that AACS 2.0 has been cracked:
While there is no shortage of pirated films on the Internet, Ultra-high-definition content is often hard to find. Not only are the file sizes enormous, but the protection is better than that deployed to regular content. UHD Blu-Ray Discs, for example, are protected with AACS 2.0 encryption which was long believed to unbreakable.
A few hours ago, however, this claim was put in doubt. Out of nowhere, a cracked copy of a UHD Blu-Ray Disc surfaced on the HD-focused BitTorrent tracker UltraHDclub. The torrent in question is a copy of the Smurfs 2 film and is tagged "The Smurfs 2 (2013) 2160p UHD Blu-ray HEVC Atmos 7.1-THRONE." This suggests that AACS 2.0 may have been "cracked" although there are no further technical details provided at this point. UltraHDclub is proud of the release, though, and boasts of having the "First Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc in the NET!"
[...] If the encryption has indeed been broken it will be bad news for AACS, the decryption licensing outfit that controls it. The company, founded by a group of movie studios and technology partners including Warner Bros, Disney, Microsoft and Intel, has put a lot of effort into making the technology secure.
"Atmos" refers to Dolby Atmos (see PDF list).
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(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday May 04 2017, @04:38PM (6 children)
(2) Why bother cracking HDMI or AACS2, when you can buy a 4K TV for cheap, open it, and tap the screen driver's output?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @04:41PM (3 children)
Because most pirates aren't that hardcore.
Easier to buy a $100 box from china that does all the work for you.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday May 04 2017, @04:58PM (2 children)
True, but finding a TV with a broken screen to gut is a lot easier than cracking a modern encryption algorithm, if you want credit for being the first to upload a perfect digital copy of a movie.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @05:59PM
Yeah... that's not really how it works.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday May 05 2017, @01:04AM
The problem is that you then need to re-encode that data which causes data loss. Top that of with very high speed data issues.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Thursday May 04 2017, @05:44PM (1 child)
Ok you have access to this output. Its proprietary and meant to drive LCD panels. What do you feed it into?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday May 04 2017, @05:58PM
It's typically documented because only 3 companies make LCD panels, and digital so you can plug it into your FPGA eval board of course...
Definitely not for beginners, but simpler and more permanent than cracking keys.