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EFF and Sony Disclose New DRM Security Hole
Dotnaught writes "The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and SONY BMG Music Entertainment said on Tuesday that SunnComm is offering a patch to fix a security vulnerability with its MediaMax Version 5 content protection software on 27 SONY BMG CDs. Security firm iSEC Partners discovered the hole following a request by the EFF to examine the SunnComm software. The vulnerability involves a directory installed on users' computers by the MediaMax software that could allow a third party to gain control over the affected Windows PC. The EFF and iSEC delayed disclosing the problem until SunnComm could develop a fix."
And to think that only yesterday, there was a slashdot story wondering whether the EFF had outlived its usefulness... So there's your answer, I guess.
Who in their right mind would voluntarily install something from SunComm or SonyBMG given their track record?
Their software phones home and cripples your computer. Would anyone here actually trust them?
Sony has done more damage to the DMCA and set back DRM farther than the combined efforts of the EFF and like-minded people around the world. We should all thank them.
Root kits, Serial Copy Management, Macrovision, Content Protection for Prerecorded Media, Advanced Access Content System, blah, blah, blah. The most effective DRM is for the lables to continue to put out crappy music. Eventually we'll all find something better to listen to.
Are you...Are you some kind of genius?
No, ma'am, I'm just a regular Slashdot reader.
Since they are redoing the CDs, maybe they can change the names too?
Alicia Keys - Unplugged, but still Infected
Amici - Forever Defined as Dishonest
Britney Spears - Hitme, but Don't RipMe
Cassidy - I'm A Hustla in Your PC
David Gray - Life In Slow Motion Since your PC has a Rootkit
Faithless - Forever Faithless Sony
Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself, I Love Rootkits
Leo Kottke/Mike Gordon - Sixty Six Steps to Uninstall the Rootkit
Raheem Devaughn - The Hate Experience
Santana - All That I Am Allowed to Copy
Stellastarr* - Harmonies for the Haunted PC
Various - So Annoying: An All Star Tribute To Rootkits
Wakefield - Which Side Are You On? Sony or the Public?
YoungBloodZ - Everybody Know Me, Nobody Copy Me
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
..did they also fix that little issue where the DRM installs itself even if the user doesn't accept the EULA?
DRM software has to do more than regular software to prevent users from circumventing it, with the latest craze being OS hooks.
Insecure software + OS hooks = HUGE security risks.
If you ever want to release a worm that takes advantage of a DRM security hole, just put it on a web site that tells you how to disable that particular DRM. People will google for a way to disable their DRM, go to your site, and WHAM.
$7.95/mo, 200 GB disk, 2TBxfer, MySQL, PHP, RoR.
Never underestimate the awesome power of pale vegetarian lawyers.
"Users don't know what a rootkit is so why should they care"
to
"We are taking the concerns of our customers very seriously, blahblahblah"
Could it be that Mr. Hesse is full of shit?
ich bin der musikant
mit taschenrechner in der hand
kraftwerk
Don't be surprised in Sony divests itself of BMG music at some point in the future, to keep from losing customers for its home electronics business.
They already lost me. And when a company loses my business, they lose it permanently.
I had a Technics CD player in the mid-80's that had to be fixed repeatedly for the same problem under warranty. When the problem recurred shortly after the unit went out of warranty and they refused to fix or replace it, I sent a polite letter to the head of Panasonic USA explaining the situation and telling them that if they didn't replace the unit I'd never buy a another Panasonic product. They declined to fix or replace the unit and twenty years later, I still don't have another Panasonic product.
You can be sure that there will never be a Sony product in my house in the future.
Of course, this could be their attempt to implement DRM by fear. If your PC gets compromised every time you put a Sony audio disk in the drive, maybe you'll stop doing it. If you don't put the CD in your PC, they don't have to worry about you copying it.
To answer a question with another question:
Is he a corporate executive?
- chrish