JULY 2019ENTERPRISE SECURITY| | 19By Stephen Fridakis, Vice President, Media & Tech Ops, HBOThe Future of Encryption in the Media and Broadcasting IndustryBroadcasters are using encryption to transmit programming to subscribers in a way that only those authorized can decrypt and view it. There are several applications for this kind of technology including secure distribution of copyrighted media (such as movies or music) and multicasting of such media over the internet or over cable television.For many years, satellite providers have been transmitting one-way encrypted messages to subscribers. Each subscriber's satellite or cable TV box includes a smartcard containing a key specific to the subscriber. Part of the media transmission includes the encrypted media with each key in circulation. As a result, the decoder identifies the part of the transmission that contains the encrypted key that matches the one in the card and uses it to decrypt the stream. When someone cancels their subscription, their key is not included in the stream anymore and cannot be used. Hijacking content is countered with access controls, digital rights management and forensic watermarking. To avoid set-top-box manipulation, manufacturers use technology to ring-fence the TV box's chipset and safeguard sensitive data. Additionally, they use forensic watermarking to avoid screen capture.The broadcasting business utilizes encryption and other methods to safeguard content. Broadcasts are either encrypted when they are packaged for distribution, or more likely, using an external encryption component which performs just-in-time encryption. Upon client authentication, their key is validated and the content catalog to which they are entitled becomes accessible and can be decrypted on their device.Streaming video over HTTPS is becoming quite popular for broadcasters that utilize several CDNs and want to add dynamic advertising to the broadcasted stream, HTTPS CXO INSIGHTS
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