Content security

When it comes to consumption and circulation of pirated content, there is very limited knowledge about its economic and social impact. There is an urgent need to raise awareness amongst youth and children about the perils of piracy and need for the protection of IPR.

In 2017, along with the Bombay High Court, the media conglomerate, Viacom 18, conducted a crack-down on counterfeit merchandise of their licensed character Dora the Explorer. This initiative was primarily targeted to protect children from hazards of using inferior-quality products under their misrepresentation of them as Viacom18 consumer products merchandise. Media broadcasters are increasingly using network technology to offer cloud-based, multiscreen services. An integrated approach to security is essential if they are to make the most of this opportunity

It is an exciting time in the broadcast media industry. Film production is growing fast. Creative artists are linking together through powerful networks across multiple studios, making it easier to shoot, produce, edit, and deliver video. Production companies can then use cloud and over-the-top (OTT) technologies to deliver this content directly to viewers, on virtually any device. Viewing habits are changing, too. People are consuming more content online, on a growing number of different devices, whether they are at home or out and about.

• They want to be able to catch up on programs that they have missed in the past weeks and months.
• To pause a show at home and restart watching it on their phone, in the same place, the next day.
• And to stream major events like sports matches, wherever they are.

Increased security risk
These changes bring boundless business opportunities. But linking film production with entertainment delivery also presents big security challenges. Video content and your viewers’ personal data are now stored together inside your media data centers. The boundaries that used to exist around data are disappearing – making it easier for hackers to get hold of your content, adapt it, and distribute it. Attacks are increasing in sophistication, and it is getting harder for media providers to identify and stop them before they impact their business. Today, it typically takes organizations between 100 to 200 days to discover that an attack has taken place.

Fight back with an integrated, threat-centric approach
Security challenges we face today are quite familiar. The technology is continuously on change; the businesses demand more flexibility; outsourcing is growing from single vendor to an average of 7-8 vendors; and inadequacy of skilled security professionals.

• Empower your employees with continuous training and awareness programs to act as the first line of defense.
• Enhance your defenses by implementing proactive threat and vulnerability management program, which looks both at perennial and evolving threats.
• Ensure that the organization has visibility of the data it possesses.
• Invest on security research and development capabilities.
• Cover all functions including the support units and partners in the organization’s security program. Invest on security products/services holistically and appropriately, based on the data protection requirement of the individual organization.
• Make security as minimum hygiene requirements for employees.
• Establish SLAs and metrics in an outsourcing relationship and monitor the outsourcer against those. Assess and respond to business partner and outsourcing risk and ensure that the organization builds its security architectures to cover these relationships.
• Address risks associated with new technologies. Ensure that your risk assessment covers the new-age trends of cloud computing, virtualization, wireless technology, and social media.

In this tough environment, media companies need to rethink their security across the entire content-delivery chain. They need a holistic approach that enables greater visibility and enforcement.