DRM System
A novel Digital Rights Management solution combining hardware and software components for multi-layered content protection. Currently in development with a limited proof-of-concept implementation.
Tech Stack
Overview
This is a novel Digital Rights Management (DRM) solution developed as a research project at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore. The system addresses the growing need for robust content protection in digital media, including software, documents, and multimedia files.
Key Innovation
Unlike traditional software-only DRM solutions, this system provides a multi-layered security approach by integrating both hardware and software components:
- Hardware Module: Interfaces with the system’s CPU via GPIO or serial connection, ensuring only authorized hardware configurations can access protected content
- Secure Executable Generation: Embeds unique security identifiers into digital files
- Kernel-Level Validation: Uses extended syscalls to validate executables before loading into memory
Architecture
Hardware Layer
The DRM sub-module can connect to the host system through:
- GPIO Interface: Direct connection to system GPIO pins
- Serial Connection: CPU serial interface for embedded applications
Software Layer
- Secure ID Generator (
secure_id.py): Generates secured executables from regular executables by embedding security identifiers - Secure Executor (
secure_exe.py): Validates and executes secured files using custom kernel syscalls - Device Driver: Custom kernel module for hardware communication
Usage
Embedding Security Identifier
python secure_id.py myapp.exec ./secured/myapp.execThis generates a secured executable with an embedded security identifier.
Secure Execution
python secure_exe.py ./secured/myapp.execThe system validates the executable against the hardware configuration before allowing execution.
Research Team
- Aman Kumar Nirala - Lead Developer
- Kaivalya Sao - Co-Developer
- Shashank Kothari - Co-Developer
Security Features
- Hardware-software combined authentication
- Unique security identifiers per executable
- Kernel-level execution validation
- Digitally signed license verification
- CI/CD integration for secure file generation
License
This project uses a custom license and is intended for testing and feedback purposes only. All releases are digitally signed for integrity verification.