Posted on 02/01/2007 6:21:11 PM PST by Space Wrangler
A Romanian-born programmer claims to have developed code that can bypass the Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology in Windows Vista. Writing in his blog, Alex Ionescu said that for over a year, he's been working on a method of getting around Vista's signed driver requirements and that he's recently succeeded.
As you might know, Vista requires that all drivers be digitally signed so that they can be properly authenticated to the OS. The 64-bit version of Vista requires what Microsoft calls Kernel Mode Code Signing (KMCS) in order to load kernel-mode drivers.
Vista also includes a technology called Protect Media Path (PMP), which essentially is a way to enable secure playback of "next-generation premium content," such as high-definition DVDs. The idea behind PMP is to prohibit access to unencrypted premium content to prevent the user from making copies that aren't approved by the content publisher. In order to facilitate trusted interoperability with premium content, any components placed into the PMP must be digitally signed for use with PMP.
Ionescu said that his code does not load any unsigned drivers and that he uses a special boot flag when starting Vista. He intends to release sample code that partially demonstrates his discoveries, but he won't release code that bypasses Vista DRM out of fear of being prosecuted under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
"Later this week I will release some safe, generic, proof of concept code that targets what I believe is a flaw in the Code Integrity/Driver Signing model.... Because this code will require an initial reboot [of the operating system] Microsoft does not consider it to be a flaw from a security standpoint. And because [the code I intend to release is] so generic, it has absolutely nothing to do with DRM or PMP. That being said, I'm sure someone with knowledge of the PMP implementation might be able to use this as a very smart building block of the entire code that would be required [to bypass PMP and DRM]," Ionescu wrote.
First of all it's not fear, it's documented that MediaPlayer does this. If you have an external firewall you can see it happening. Second, Windows used to honor software firewalls but no longer does for itself. If you have any internet access Windows is getting out when it wants to and the software firewall will never even know. Do you get firewall alerts when Windows searches home for an update?
PING!
I've been a Slackware zealot for 4 or 5 yrs and absolutely refuse to put another penny in Gates pocket.
How can a company that makes and has more money then it can spend. More “genius” programmers concentrated in their various facilities than anywhere else in the universe and yet can’t produce a product that is invulnerable to run of the mill “hackers”.
Or a product that is worth the money consumers spend?
I dont know but they sure do!
good tagline!
Jetico firewall can block every attempt to connect.
Every library, every call, every remote call, every hook, etc.
I'm still working on building my rule set, and I've been at it for 3 weeks.
Not original … borrowed it from another site.
Microcrap Ping
I don't even trust XP any more than I trust Clinton!
Yesterday I migrated my 20G and 60G HDs into one of two 160G HDs. Today I am downloading Fedora to put on the other HD to run in a dual boot setup.
Well, at least he's not Russian.
It's interesting that people have to be afraid of laws when they come up with a method to give a consumer some control over his computer back.
"Overall, I'm not overly impressed. It's just okay...nothing to go crazy over. However Knoppix running with a Beryl desktop will have you doing backflips."
Thats' very cool, I may have to get a cheap Windows box or laptop to play with that.
So will Apple be biting the dust before or after Microsoft?
Let's hope you don't resort to lies defending the Romanians like you did the Russians either. Or the "180 day rule for criminal prosecution" LMAO.
Don't you just love it. A conservative site such as FreeRepublic is just loaded with people whining about profit, a company, music and video industry protecting their work and property.Perhaps if there wasn't so many theives out there, DRM wouldn't be such an issue. But at least I haven't seen the word entitlement yet. Although I did once see here on FR a Freeper felt he was entitled to download an album he purchased 20 yrs ago and it was now gone.
It's now February 02,2007 and Bill Gates hasn't forced me to spend a penny yet.
I have no problem whatsoever with any company or person making a profit from their intellectual property, and I am also happy to pay a fair price for it myself. The problem comes from DRM gutting the term "fair use". How many times do you think you should have to pay for a song? Do you believe that you should license a song per device, paying for it each time you listen to it on your computer, mp3 player, or a CD in your car? People looking to gut DRM schemes doesn't necessarily equate to theft. It is increasingly becoming adopted by people simply wanting to use what they have already paid for.
I don't think either company will bite the dust. How did you infer from the statement that you quoted that I believed that MS would fail due to DRM?
You might want to post your experience with Vista, as a normal non-techie PC user. A lot of the criticisms on here won't mean much to us average folks, but YOUR explanation of the problems you encountered made me realize I need to stay far, far away from Vista.
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