Installation guide

Multipoint publishing provides a much-needed degree of exibility, customization, and
scalability to large-scale live video applications. For more details, consult the Flash Media Server
Developer Guide.
Securing content with Flash Media Server 3
Whenever content is distributed electronically, there is some risk of it being copied, misappropri-
ated, or redistributed. Flash Media Server oers several levels of security to protect your content
and server resources that are unobtrusive, intuitive, and convenient to consumers.
Content vulnerabilities
ere are a number of ways that online digital content can be compromised:
• Raiding the browser cache—ough the lenames are not easily read, it is relatively simple to
retrievevideolesfromthebrowsercache.(isvulnerabilityisonlypresentwithprogressive
videodelivery;streamsarenevercached.)
• Video URI access—VideoURIscaneasilybediscoveredusingfree“snier”utilities.
• SWF re-serving—Your SWF can be copied and re-served from another domain. SWFs can also
be decompiled, oen revealing your Flash Media Server address, application and stream names.
• Replay technologies—Alsoreferredtoas“streamripping,”thisisthemostinsidiousof
security issues because it is more dicult to prevent. Stream ripping utilities actually intercept
the data stream and record it to a le that can then be played.
Flash Media Server security architecture
As discussed earlier, streaming has a higher level of security than progressive delivery, since
media les are never cached to disk. Flash Media Server further enhances protection against
other risks with a number of additional security features:
• Userauthenticationusingserver-sideActionScript
• Authorizationadaptor
• Accessadaptor
• SWFverication
• Domainaccesscontrol
• Customsolutionsoeredbycontentdeliverynetworks
• StreamencryptionusingRTMPEorRTMPS
First,we’lllookattheoverallFlashMediaServersecurityarchitecture(showninthefollowing
gure)andthenexamineeachoftheprotectionmeasuresindepth.
Flash Media Server security architecture
Flash Media Server
Web server
Client
V a lidated
SWF
RTMP
HTTP
Database Authentication
Stream Encryption
Domain Restriction
SWF Hashing
User Authentication
Dynamic Access Control
Unique key/token handshake
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