Intel last night confirmed that the encryption that protects most high-definition video content from being copied or pirated has been cracked.

The key for HDCP- a means of encoding and protecting HDTV broadcasts, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes and more- has been released on the internet.

Commenting today on the security breach, our client, Dermot Williams, MD of IT security company Threatscape says:

“Now that the data is confirmed to be a HDCP master key then it would appear at first glance to be a nightmare scenario for a media industry increasingly reliant on HD content as a way to keep revenues flowing from consumers with increasingly sophisticated expectations.  Developing a newer, more secure form of content protection and ensuring its widespread adoption by a future generation of digital devices would take years to achieve.”

“A leak of HDCP ‘master keys’ may in time prove responsible for making the duplication and distribution of digital content easier, but it won’t be the first attack responsible for making it possible.”