The copy protection method used on Blu-Ray discs was thought to be full proof. However, early last year the HDCP (High Definition Copy Protection) key was leaked. At the time Intel (who developed the copy protection) didn’t seem that bothered by the leak stating that anyone who would like to use or crack the master key would needs to be in the semi-conductor business and also have to create an expensive customised chip in order to complete the task.
Today though, it has come to light that what Intel said last year, does not seem to be entirely correct. The reason being is that Ruhr University’s Secure Hardware Group along with the help of PhD student Benno Lomb says they have managed to crack the HCDP copy protection, using what they say is a custom board with a handful of inexpensive FPGA chips.
According to reports, the board itself cost just a little over $200 to purchase and includes a Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). The board is also equipped with a HDMI port and a serial RS232 com port. The board sits between the Blu-Ray player and your TV and is capable of decrypting the data between the player and TV without being detected.
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Tags: Blu-ray, Chip, Copy, Cracked, Encryption, FPGA, Hacked, HDCP, Intel, Master Key, player, Protection
