What is Secure Audio Path?
All personal computer operating systems are vulnerable to attacks that seek to replace device drivers. For example, a digital media file is vulnerable to interception on the way to the sound driver after the file has been decrypted and downloaded from the DRM system to a media player. With the release of Secure Audio Path technology in Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition and Windows XP, the data path inside the operating system is protected during transfer from the media player to the sound card. This reduces attacks that are based on false plug-ins because these components only have access to encrypted data. A certified Microsoft component verifies that all downstream components (including the sound card driver) are also certified. It does not decrypt the data stream if it detects unauthorized or compromised components in the execution path.
