NAB 2023: Announcing Forensic Watermarking

NAB 2023: Announcing Forensic Watermarking

There are some things you can never have too much of. And when it comes to sharing high-value, pre-release content, security is one of them.

It’s why we’re so excited today to announce that we’ve added Forensic Watermarking to our security tech stack. Now, with visible Watermark ID and DRM (Digital Rights Management) encryption, 2FA, and SSO (Single Sign-On), along with our secure reviewer and dedicated Inbox workflows, Frame.io gives you the absolute highest level of security for remote collaboration.

Session-based watermark ID in Frame.io
Visible, session-based watermarking is just one of the ways Frame.io can secure your assets.

From media and entertainment studios creating highly anticipated content to global brands creating new product designs—and for the agencies who are advertising them—we know that keeping sensitive content safe is essential. Forensic Watermarking is the ultimate security tool for discouraging security breaches and encouraging compliance across any enterprise org’s Frame.io account.

How it works

Unlike the visible watermarks that our Watermark ID (WMID) displays, Forensic Watermarks are embedded at the pixel level, and are invisible to the eye. Frame.io generates these watermarks on-the-fly for every video playback, in-app or in Review links.

The invisible watermarks are robust enough to survive many actions, including file copying, screen recordings, or even external recordings from cameras and mobile devices, whether the watermarked content is being viewed, shared, downloaded, or edited. If a forensically watermarked video is leaked or under suspicion by an account admin, an intercepted copy of the video asset can be analyzed in a forensic investigation completed by our own Frame.io Support team.

Within hours, we can provide customers detailed information related to the origin of the breach. Asset IDs, account, team, project, user info, user location, and playback times can all be recovered through our automatic or manual forensic investigations. This means that for known measures bad actors take, the forensic watermark remains, providing the most comprehensive layer of security available for remote collaboration and cloud storage.

“The invisible watermarks are robust enough to survive many actions…even external recordings from cameras and mobile devices.”

We’ve enhanced our admin controls to allow Forensic Watermarking and Watermark ID security tools to be customized at the team or account level. Implementation is super fast—it takes only seconds to generate forensic watermarks for video playback in Frame.io—and works with video clips as short as 30 seconds, making it perfect for sharing ads, previsualizations, VFX shots, and C2C dailies.

Forensic Watermarking UI notification
This notification is the only visible indication of Forensic Watermarking.

For viewers, there’s nothing additional to do or to learn. The only thing they’ll notice is the Forensic Watermark icon and notification displayed in the Frame.io app during playback, driving viewer awareness and compliance. Think of it as an added deterrent, similar to a lawn sign on a house that says it’s protected by an alarm system.

Ultimate peace of mind

Recently we announced our early adoption of the TPN+ platform, the gold standard of security for major studios including Universal, Disney, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Netflix, Amazon Studios, and Apple. Participation in the platform means that we are part of a list of providers who abide by the industry’s best practices for preventing leaks, breaches, or hacks.

Frame.io and TPN+ security
TPN+ is part of our commitment to your security.

Now, by adding Forensic Watermarking to our Enterprise security features, you can have the ultimate peace of mind knowing that internal or external stakeholders with access to content in Frame.io can watch and work with video that’s free from distracting visual watermarks, and feel confident that your IP is more protected than ever.

Forensic Watermarking will become available soon for Frame.io Enterprise customers. If you’re interested in adding it to your account, reach out to your Frame.io Account Manager or Customer Success Manager.

Curious about Frame.io Enterprise? To learn more about the industry-leading security, multi-team management, asset lifecycle management, Open API access, customized seat and storage allocations, and other benefits available with a Frame.io Enterprise account, click here to book a meeting.

Thank you to Jason Druss for contributing this article.

Jason Druss is a Product Marketing Manager at Frame.io, an Adobe company. A member of Colorist Society International (CSI), Jason was previously a Senior Colorist at WarnerMedia Studios, a Colorist at NFL Films, and a Davinci Resolve Product Specialist at Blackmagic Design.

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