security in ‘the cloud’ business today


maintain full control over what he or she wishes to store online.” For Comcast subsidiary thePlatform,


a secure cloud service isn’t just good for the business, it is the business. CEO Ian Blaine said: “Cloud security is a massively important thing when you are talking about premium content. Our job is to protect the content and the information about that content which is a crucial set of assets for the media companies. You have to use best practices whether it is in the cloud or some unknown infrastructure. You have to apply very robust security.” On a practical level in the online


video arena this has meant thePlatform supporting digital rights management solutions such as Microsoft Windows Media DRM and Play Ready formats, Adobe Flash Access and Widevine. Blaine added that the company has done ‘light integration’ with Intertrust’s Marlin DRM technology. thePlatform basically invites the suppliers to set their policies and decouple setting rules as operators may desire to deploy more than one DRM system for different devices. Through its parent, who is one of the


founder partners of the alliance of companies, thePlatform also supports the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) which is rapidly rolling out its UltraViolet digital rights locker programme. The UltraViolet programme is designed to address the growing issue of running content legally across multiple platforms, empowering consumers to use multiple content services and device brands interchangeably, at home and on-the-go through cloud infrastructures, be they wired or, increasingly, wireless. UltraViolet’s specifications include a


universal Common File Format for downloads, which allows consumers to copy playable files directly among


multiple brands of registered apps/devices, even if they may run different UltraViolet-compliant DRM systems. With the Common File Format, titles intended for downloading will be encoded and encrypted by the entertainment content providers just once, but will be able for playback across multiple designated platforms. Ian Blaine believes that UltraViolet


can act essentially as a provisioner of security if someone wants to buy rights in the air. But he adds that there is some complexity attached to its function that service providers may want to bear in mind from a business standpoint. He points out: “If you think about a household, traditionally a subscription has been just to the household, a billing relationship that is an umbrella that covers whoever is sitting in front of the TV. But now we are entering a domain where it includes that but also individuals with individual devices. Some devices are common and social, some are very personal. How do you account for and manage your 13-year old’s iPhone in the context of the subscription? You have to bring in parental controls but you want to pass through the value. You don’t want to put up big gates and barbed wire at every juncture where you access content.” In other words, at any point where the user interfaces with the cloud for services. UltraViolet proposes a situation where viewers make use of a centralised digital rights locker system for consumers’ management of their proofs-of-purchase. Noureddine Hamdane, EVP strategy


and communication at Viaccess, believes that cloud computing is mainly delivering three service models - software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) - and that there are security concerns pertaining to all three


Providers have pinned great hopes on the cloud as a cost- effective platform that will meet users’ demands for anywhere, anytime access to digital media through any connected device. And the pace of uptake is going to accelerate anytime soon with the arrival of iCloud, Apple’s service that will give iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad users access to apps, including video.


that need to be monitored. He said: “The SaaS model does not meet CAS/DRM vendors security targets since it implies complete reliance on, and control loss to, the cloud service vendor for the CAS/DRM application framework and related data management. The two other options require higher vigilance. Premium content protection and user rights management demands a global approach to define the technical and organisational security requirements to be implemented and placed under surveillance before envisioning a possible migration. Among the various criteria, one must pay attention to the impact on application security, data management service features and quality of service. Adding a pinch of security here and there on top of cloud computing will not suffice. Content services in the cloud deserve a comprehensive management of security - a 360 degree security approach.” The cloud has changed, and will


change again, the digital media landscape. Providers have pinned great hopes on the cloud as a cost-effective platform that will meet users’ demands for anywhere, anytime access to digital media through any connected device. And the pace of uptake is going to accelerate anytime soon with the arrival of iCloud, Apple’s service that will give iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad users access to apps, including video. "The ability to easily watch video content on any device is something the world’s operators and CE manufacturers have been trying to master for years, and Apple appears to have beaten them to it," said Giles Cottle, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. You don’t hear of many successful attacks on iTunes. The industry had better take heed before Apple takes their money.


www.ibeweb.com l september/october 2011 l ibe l 7


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