ABSTRACT
Creative digital arts, comprising film, game and music, have mostly been able to ignore computer security threats. The relation of the arts and entertainments business to digital security has always been rocky. One of the reasons that media producers have much catching up to do in the area of cyber-security lies in the nature of business practices, including some very poorly motivated and misguided efforts over the past 40 years to place focus almost entirely on content protection. The pre-release attack is a form of blackmail with a non-typical execution. To understand the difference between pre-release, classic ransom ware, and plain theft, this chapter explores how these superficially similar attacks work with respect to different kinds of value. Security engineers without experience of the creative industry may find it harder to understand this threat model, and why certain works are more sensitive than they might appear. Apparent cyber-crime may really be cultural conflict.
