Disk Based DRM On The Horizon

February 16, 2006: The Trusted Computing Group (TCG) has used the annual RSA security conference to announce its new framework for Digital Rights Management (DRM) at the hard disk level.

The company has announced that it will be publishing its preliminary Trusted hard drive specification, which uses a hidden partition on the disk to store the keys and tables that define what rights the user or the host platform has to access the data.

There has been a lot of interest in the announcement as it brings forth the possibility that a single DRM industry standard at the hardware level could emerge, cutting out the need for software solutions such as Sony’s recent XCP debacle.

The company claims that its platform, when applied to a hard drive will prevent unauthorised applications writing data to the disk. This could help stop malicious software such as worms and other viruses in their tracks as they would need explicit authorisation to write data to a Trusted storage device.

However, on the other hand, with data access rights being allocated at the disk level, ultimate control of a user’s PC suddenly seems to be in someone else’s hands. Because of these Orwellian overtones, TCG has had criticism levelled at it from some high profile sources. Namely Bruce Schneier, Author of Applied Cryptography and co-developer of the Twofish encryption program, who says his fear is that software like TCG’s “will lead us down a road where our computers are no longer our computers, but are instead owned by a variety of factions and companies all looking for a piece of our wallet…I don't mind companies selling, renting, or licensing things to me, but the loss of the power, reach, and flexibility of the computer is too great a price to pay.”

IDM will be following this story as it develops, so be sure to check back for updates.

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