Dolby's server good enough for FIPS

With MPEG-2 soon a distant memory for Hollywood-quality digital cinema servers, the next big hump is FIPS compliance. The magic number to learn is 140-2 and servers that have Level 3 validation will soon be the only ones good enough to play Hollywood content. Dolby is one of the first manufacturers to claim to have achieved recommendation for it, according to their press release:

InfoGard Laboratories, an accredited Cryptographic Module Testing Laboratory under Lab Code 100432-0 of the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program, submitted the recommendation for the Dolby Digital Cinema server to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validation, as outlined by the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) specifications.

Through this achievement, Dolby Digital Cinema has moved further toward comprehensive DCI compatibility.

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Achieving FIPS Level 3 compliance would mean that the Dolby Digital Cinema server meets the highest level of protection required by DCI to prevent thieves and hackers from accessing the "master-quality" motion picture files used in digital cinema systems. FIPS are security standards developed by the NIST and cover detailed specifications for physical and mechanical design, electronic circuitry, software, interfaces, and algorithms.

Though they have not put out a dedicated press release about it, Sony have achieved this too. At their presentation earlier this week, they told the brave souls that stayed for the in-depth techy talk just what the testing involved. Amongst other things the testers would insert inflatable balloons that would then be expanded so that the casing is dented enough to insert a hand, finger or instruments. It would seem that both Dolby and Sony are thus balloon-safe.