Top Satellite Tv Signal encrypting/Conditional Access Companies and Their Client base

Welcome to another beautiful week. I hope you all had a great weekend. Often you might have heard different names associated with your satellite tv/PayTV packages. These names are not the name of your satellite tv provider. They are the name tag on your Smartcard/Viewing card. For instance, Multichoice Africa, owner of DStv and GOtv carries the name “Irdeto” on its smartcard. I am going to talk about top Satellite tv signal encrypting companies. Not only that, I shall be giving a run-through of their history, mode of operation, and their major clients.

Notably, most of these Top Satellite signal encrypting companies don’t involve only satellite TV encryption, as 90% of them are also engaged in other forms of security. For instance, Irdeto encrypts every digital content, including games.

Satellite TV/Pay-TV providers encrypt their channels to prevent unauthorized content viewing. Often, the company responsible for securing the contents is separated from the department that creates the contents. Security is a serious business. We will look into those conditional access security companies and their mode of operation.

The Full List Of Top Satellite TV Signal Encrypting Companies Globally

Here is a list of global companies specializing in satellite TV signal encryption.

• B – Betacrypt
• C – Cryptovision
• CC – Codicrypt
• Co – Conax
• Cr – Cryptoworks
• D – Digicipher
• D2 – Digicipher2
• Dc – Dreamcrypt
• DS – Digistar
• E – Eurocrypt
• IC – IceCrypt
• I1 – Irdeto1
• I2 – Irdeto2
• KF – KeyFly
• M – SECA/Mediaguard
• M2 – Mediaguard2
• N – Nagravision (Syster)
• N2 – Nagravision2
• N3 – Nagravision3
• NSHL – Neotion SHL
• NL – Nokia Line shuffling
• Ok – Omnikrypt
• PP – Ping Pong
• PV – PowerVu
• S – Simulcrypt
• SC – SkyCrypt
• SoftV- Soft Videocrypt
• SP – Sky Pilot
• V – Videocrypt
• V2 – Videocrypt2
• Vc – Viaccess1
• Vc2 – Viaccess2
• VG – Videoguard
• W – Wegener

Read Also: Why Satellite broadcast pirates are being prosecuted – 3 Popular cases

1. Compilation of top companies that encrypt satellite TV signals, listed in no particular order.

PowerVu

PowerVu makes it to our list of Top Satellite signal encrypting companies as a conditional access system for digital television. PowerVu is developed by Scientific Atlanta.

PowerVu encrypting is used for professional broadcasting, notably by Retevision, Bloomberg Television, Discovery Channel, AFRTS, and American Forces Network. Cable companies also use it to prevent viewing by unauthorized viewers.

Don’t Miss: Understanding PowerVU Encryption Technology – Definition, Scope, Channels

PowerVu has decoders that decode signals from certain satellites for cable distribution services. These decoders can also be used like the FTA (Free-To-Air) satellite receivers if properly configured. PowerVu is considered very secure, and although it has been compromised, it uses a complicated system to authorize each PowerVu receiver and trace its history of ownership and usage. Most PowerVu users are professional cable or satellite companies, using the service and equipment for signal redistribution because regular users cannot afford it. In addition, powerVu uses a form of satellite key sharing as it requires no internet.

 

 2. Irdeto 1 & 2

Irdeto
Creation	1969
Founder (s)	Pieter den Toonder
Owner	Naspers
Key figures	Graham Kill
Headquarters	Hoofddorp, Beijing San Francisco
Employees	1000+
Sector	security
Website	http://www.irdeto.com
Portal Economy

Irdeto is another feature on our top Satellite signal encrypting companies. This is an originally Dutch company that makes software for securing Pay TV. The regional head offices are located in Hoofddorp, Beijing, and San Francisco.  They produce smartcards and surface-mounted devices required for the visualization of pay TV via cable, satellite, IPTV, and mobile phones.

According to Wikipedia: Irdeto was founded in 1969 by media engineer Pieter den Toonder in Dordrecht. Irdeto is an amalgamation of I ngenior r De n To under. The company is now a subsidiary of the South African media group Naspers.

Several providers around the world use the system, as in the Netherlands, almost all cable companies (except UPC, which used Nagravision ). Satellite provider CanalDigitaal also used this encryption until December 10, 2012.

The original encryption system Irdeto 1 became vulnerable to piracy in the late 1990s; Illegal smart cards appeared with which one could receive the encrypted channels for free.

An improved version was introduced in October 2000 under the name Irdeto 2. This coding was restricted in 2007. With the so-called Gammakaart you could and can take a free look at the packages of Ziggo and, until December 10, 2012, also Canal Digital. The map is now challenging to get hold of by measures against piracy.

 3. Viaccess

Viaccess is an encrypting system for digital television developed by France Télécom. Four versions are in use today, Viaccess PC2.3, Viaccess PC2.4, Viaccess PC2.5, and Viaccess PC2.6.

Viaccess was developed as the digital version of the EuroCrypt system used with the hybrid MAC system.

The first version is sometimes referred to as Viaccess 1, and the latter three, although different, as Viaccess 2. PC2.3 and PC2.4 are known to be ineffective, and many set-top boxes can be ‘patched’ to decrypt Viaccess signals without payment. However, PC2.5 and PC2.6 are secure, with PC2.5 remaining secure two years after its first commercial deployment. PC2.6 was introduced at the end of 2005.

There are two modifications of Viaccess PC2.3 in use. The first, known as TPS Crypt, is used by TPS. Despite being compromised, the TPS Crypt system has been further modified to utilize Advanced Encryption System (AES) keys. These AES keys were updated initially once daily. However, after this inconvenienced unauthorized viewers a little, a second TPS crypt system was introduced, by which keys are changed every 15-20 minutes, with keys being sent over TPS’s internal Open TV system. This, therefore, meant that only TPS receivers could receive the new AES key and not the insecure TPS subscription cards. Monitoring and analyzing the keys by hacking groups, however, has brought about essential lists where the AES keys have been successfully predicted. Implementing this procedure of automatically updating keys has proved difficult, if not impossible, to implement on many satellite receivers, rendering the TPS Crypt AES system a general success.

The second Viaccess modification, called ThalesCrypt, is used by Canal Satellite France to protect its contents on the transport network to the head-ends of the cable networks; it is an over-encryption mechanism of the original protocol encryption keys.

A large number of providers currently use Viaccess. These include;

* TPS* ART
* NTV
* Televisa Networks
* Canal Satellite France and Canal Afrique
* ETTV
* TBLTV
* Home2US

 

Also, Viaccess is the world’s 3rd largest conditional access system provider (in 2004). In addition, Viaccess is also a subsidiary of France Télécom, which offers pay TV and DRM-enabled software.

 

4. Top Satellite TV Signal encrypting companies: Conax 

For the records, Conax is a company that designs conditional access systems for digital television—based in Oslo, Norway. Conax has subsidiaries in the USA, India, and Germany and sales & support offices in Russia, Singapore, China, South Korea, Brazil, and Canada.

Between 1986 and 1992, the core of Conax was formed as a research team in Telenor’s Research and Development department. The technology, which includes one of the world’s first pay-TV SMART cards, was put into large-scale operation in 1992. In 1994 Telenor Conax was established as an independent company within the Telenor group.

The company is today owned 90% by Telenor, the leading telecom, IT, and media company in Norway, and 10% by Telenor Venture II ASA, a new fund of TeleVenture, with its main areas of interest within mobile communications, broadband, and new media and internet.

Open and Interoperable by sticking to a non-proprietary and open solution, Conax allows the possibility of “freedom of choice” in technology. This is achieved by:

* A fully open, fair, and non-discriminatory licensing policy for STB manufacturers to include support for Conax CAS in the STB
* Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) and OpenCable™ compliant transmission format
* DVB SimulCrypt compliance on both transmission and receiver (STB) sides
* Detachable security module using an ISO 7816 compatible smart card
* Supply of Common Interface Conditional Access Modules (CAMs) and CableCards™ (option)
* Using a standard over-the-air STB loader such as the Euro leader or other non-proprietary STB loader controlled by the operator

 

5. BISS(Basic Interoperable Scrambling System)

Basic interoperable usually known as BISS, is a satellite signal scrambling system developed by the European Broadcasting Union and a consortium of hardware manufacturers.

Before its development, “ad-hoc” or “Occasional Use” satellite news feeds were transmitted without any encryption. This allowed anyone with the correct equipment to view the program material. Using BISS, the transmission is protected by a 12-digit “session key” that is agreed upon by the transmitting and receiving parties before transmission. The key is entered into both the encoder and decoder, this key then forms part of the encryption of the digital TV signal, and only receivers with the correct key will decrypt the signal. The system, however, is very insecure.

6. VideoGuard 

Videoguard(sometimes referred to as ND*S), produced by ND*S, is a digital encryption system for use with conditional access television broadcasting. It is used almost exclusively on digital satellite television (DVB-S) systems operated by News Corporation, which owns most of ***.

Its most widely used implementation is BSkyB’s Sky Digital (popular in Britain and Ireland) which adopted the system in 1998. Several other broadcasters around the world use the VideoGuard system, including Yes (Israel), Viasat (Scandinavia), Sky Italia, Sky Network Television (New Zealand), Foxtel (Australia), Tata Sky (India), and TotalTV (Serbia).

Since most content provided by companies like BSkyB requires a subscription, VideoGuard protects that content by encrypting both standard subscription channels and pay-per-view movies and events. Access flags can be downloaded to the subscriber’s card either over the air (via ‘hidden’ channels) or by using the box’s built-in modem, allowing rapid channel package changes and ordering of events.

News Corporation introduced the VideoGuard system to replace the analog VideoCrypt system. The current encryption method has remained secure, although various pay-per-view flaws have been identified. Even these flaws are related to the STB’s circuitry rather than the *** card. It is suspected that the version initially used by Sky Digital was either insecure or close to being broken, as a software update rolled out to all boxes required the replacement of the BSkyB subscriber’s viewing card.

Despite being designed to protect pay-TV, VideoGuard is used by BSkyB to encrypt Channel 4 and Five (To prevent these channels from being viewed outside the UK for copyright reasons). These channels are free-to-air in the UK, using analog PAL or digital terrestrial (DVB-T) receivers, and can also be viewed using any working VideoGuard card from the correct area, even if expired. Until November 2005, all of ITV’s channels were also encrypted using VideoGuard but switched to becoming unencrypted like the BBC’s channels. All these channels can also be viewed using the Freesat from Sky product which, due to the availability of inexpensive cards, potentially increases the risk of VideoGuard becoming cracked through experimentation.

To significantly improve the security of the Videoguard encryption, News Corporation’s encrypted output can only be viewed using a designated Set-Top Box (STB) in which VideoGuard is embedded into the circuitry. Due to News Corporation’s control of VideoGuard, it is impossible to get a licensed VideoGuard Conditional Access Module (CAM) for a third-party STB or to obtain VideoGuard routines for a software CAM. This is seen by many as an example of vendor lock-in, often to protect NewsCorp’s preferred suppliers of boxes, e.g., PACE. In contrast, CAMs and software CAMs are available for all other encryption systems, including Irdeto, Nagravision, and Viaccess. The CAM monopoly may be broken due to Italian inter-operability laws forcing Sky Italia to allow other boxes to read their cards for legally acquired services.

Several groups managed to reverse-engineer VideoGuard to the point where a legitimate subscriber’s card can be read and utilized firmware to decrypt only those channels that the subscriber is authorized to view. A software CAM emulator for the DreamBox Linux-powered satellite receiver and the Dragon and T-Rex Conditional Access modules. However, many broadcasters choose to pair their cards to a specific STB serial number, meaning that a paired (also called “married”) card can only be used in a broadcaster-supplied STB or by using the serial number from said receiver with one of the reverse-engineered solutions.

VideoGuard Users

* BSkyB
* DirecTV
* Foxtel
* Sky Italia
* Yes DBS
* HOT
* Viasat
* Indovision
* Tata Sky
* SKY Network Television

 

7. Top Satellite TV Signal Encrypting Companies: Cryptoworks

Another fantastic company that makes the list of Top Satellite signal encrypting companies is Cryptoworks. Cryptoworks is a DVB conditional access system developed by Philips CryptoTec but now belongs to Irdeto.

Cryptoworks is used by Digiturk, the BFBS satellite service, UPC Direct, the ORF, and other pay TV or free-to-view systems, mainly in Europe. It is also used to encrypt some feeds to cable television head-ends.

 

8. Nagravision

Three versions of Nagravision are in everyday use for digital satellite television, known as Nagravision, Nagravision A, and Nagravision Aladin. Nagravision A and Aladin are often confused with each other. Nagravision Aladin is, however, a complicated combination of Nagravision A and Mediaguard SECA 2 encryption.

The decryption unit is either integrated into a receiver, as a conditional access module (CAM), or as one of many encryption schemes supported on a CAM emulator.

Nagravision has been adopted all over the world as a conditional access system, with providers like NTL UK and Dream Satellite TV Philippines (on Nagravision 1), Polsat of Poland, Digital+ Spain, TV Cabo Portugal, Premiere Germany, Digi TV Romania, BellExpressVu Canada and Dish Network USA (On Nagravision A). Digital+ remains the only provider using Nagravision Aladin (And also Nagravision A) after its adoption in March 2005. Despite several security flaws, algorithm changes, and revisions have kept the Nagravision A system generally secure. However, the standard encryption game of “cat and mouse” between the conditional access providers and signal pirates have developed. The original Nagravision 1 is now almost obsolete after it was initially compromised in 1999. However, Dream Satellite maintains relative security by changing keys several times throughout the day, causing great inconvenience to unauthorized viewers.

The Nagravision A providers have been confronting the issue of satellite signal piracy and smart card piracy since the system was publicly compromised in the summer of 2005. At first, the security of the system was regained, with software revisions, manipulation of the Nagravision encryption algorithm, and the phasing out of older cards, like the ROM101 (and ROM102 in Europe), in favor of the newer ROM130.

Card hackers have, however, continued to compromise the encryption system, with continued software and key releases being made available to the public. Software emulation of the Nagravision system has been implemented in many Free-To-Air Satellite receivers, allowing unauthorized viewing to those who do not even own an official card.

9. Analog system

An older Nagravision system for scrambling analog satellite television programs was used in the 1990s, for example, by the German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere. In this line-shuffling system, 32 lines of the PAL TV signal are temporarily stored in both the encoder and decoder and read out in permuted order under the control of a pseudorandom number generator.

A smartcard security microcontroller (in a key-shaped package) decrypts data transmitted during the TV signal’s blanking intervals. It extracts the random seed value needed for controlling the random number generation. Using a frequency mixer, the system also permitted the audio signal to be scrambled by inverting its spectrum at 12.5 kHz.

Like with most smartcard-based conditional access systems, the smartcards used with the analog Nagravision system were repeatedly reverse-engineered by hackers, allowing clone cards and “patched” receivers to be produced. However, the analog Nagravision system was the first widely used cryptographically controlled conditional access system broken in a way that bypassed the tamper resistance of its smartcard entirely and from which no recovery was possible by replacing all smart cards.

The weakness exploited by this attack is the random seed value that is used to control the descrambling process. It is only 15 bits long. By the late 1990s, even low-cost home computers with frame grabbers were computationally powerful enough to try all 215 = 32768 possible permutations of video lines for each frame in real-time. Software decoders were written that selected this small number of possible permutations that maximized the similarity of neighboring image lines in the resulting image and displayed the result. The scrambling of the audio signal was not a cryptographically controlled process and can easily be undone using the same frequency mixer circuit used for scrambling.

10. Mediaguard

Mediaguard is a conditional access system for digital television developed by SECA (Société Européenne de Contrôle d’Accès), which has since become Nagra France.

Mediaguard has been on the European market since 1996. It is also used in the Middle East and Asia. Mediaguard is notably used by Canal+.

Manufacturers which incorporate Mediaguard into their equipment are notably Hitachi, Ltd., Humax, JVC, Kenwood Electronics, Nokia, Pace Micro Technology, Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Sagem, Samsung Electronics, Sony Corporation, Strong, Thomson, and Toshiba.

The original Mediaguard system had been broken by the end of the 1990s, allegedly by rival *** Group, which resulted in new cards being distributed to customers in 2002