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Beyond Lock & Key: Reinventing DRM for the Cyber Era

Digital Rights Management (DRM) has been an essential security tool for content providers for decades. It does things like deliver content keys, controls access to copyrighted material, and provides a level of protection against piracy in a way that powers an entire broadcast/streaming ecosystem of video content delivery. However, in recent years, hackers have become more sophisticated, at an industrial scale, and DRM alone is just no longer enough. In this post, we explore the importance of “retrofitting” DRM with modern cybersecurity solutions and why it is essential to protect your video content from today’s hacker-pirates.

DRM is a solid foundation.

DRM has been around for over 30 years, and while it still serves its purpose, on its own, it may not be enough to protect against today’s modern threat actors. Pirates and hackers have found ways to bypass DRM using exploits that it was not designed to handle. Therefore, to better protect your premiere movies and live streaming sport content, you might want to consider enhancing your DRM with a modern, yet comprehensive cybersecurity solution that address the widest-breath of security threats possible.

Before we talk about about how best to do that, let’s reflect the foundation provided by DRM. Consider it in the context of a lock on a front door of a house. A door lock is an old technology that is still necessary, but it cannot do it all. If burglars can get into hour home by climbing through a bedroom window, even a good lock will not stop them. Similarly, DRM has an essential role to play, but it needs to be paired with additional security solutions that did not exist a few years ago.

Hacker-Pirates are after more than content.

Piracy not only impacts the content itself but also the operator’s bottom line. Today’s modern hacker-pirates can steal login credentials and lock customers out of their online subscriptions, inflate content distribution costs, and even set up a rival streaming service to siphon away customers. Sophisticated bad actors can hijack your OTT service, increase your operational costs, pilfer ad revenue, and ruin the experience of legitimate customers. That’s terrible for your brand and really bad for your bottom line.

The Importance of Comprehensive Cybersecurity Solutions

To protect your video content, you need a holistic approach that includes vide protection plus cybersecurity. Verimatrix Streamkeeper with Counterspy is one such solution that provides multi-layered video security plus the ability to secure media apps. This solution also empowers media apps with telemetry, which can detect piracy at the connected consumer device-level, and it includes anti-piracy countermeasures to thwart attacks before they even happen. No other company offers a security solutions like Verimatrix does. We are trusted. Complete. Combat-ready. Able to efficiently scale and easy to implement.

The Net Net

DRM isn’t worthless, but why pay for DRM of the bad guys can steal your content or break into your mobile app by avoiding the lock on your front door and opening a window on your back porch? DRM needs to be paired with additional security solutions that address today’s modern security threats. A comprehensive cybersecurity solution that includes a bundled security solution including DRM, Watermarking, App Protection and Counterspy is what media & entertainment companies should consider purchasing to protect their valuable video content from piracy, safeguard customer experiences, and bring peace of mind to your business.

But wait, there’s more.

The evolving nature of video security threats means that organizations need to take an “on your toes” approach if they seek to remain one step ahead of the bad guys. Since DRM alone is not enough, you might want to learn more by reading Verimatrix’s latest white paper, “DRM Ecosystem and Security Best Practices Guide,” which is available for free download.

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