****************************************************************** *---------------- Syndicated Hack Watch - 03:1994 ---------------* ****************************************************************** *-------------- Special Projects BBS +353-51-50143 --------------* *-------------- SysOp: John McCormac --------------* ****************************************************************** *------------- (c) 1993 MC2 (Publications Division) -------------* *--------------- 22 Viewmount, Waterford Ireland ----------------* ****************************************************************** ****************************************************************** Syndicated Hack Watch is copyrighted material. All unauthorised reproduction whether in whole or in part, in any language will be suitably dealt with. ****************************************************************** Contact Numbers: Voice: +353-51-73640 Fax: +353-51-73640 BBS: +353-51-50143 HST - Special Projects BBS E-mail: mc2@cix.compulink.com.uk FidoNet: 2:263/402 ****************************************************************** New 09 Smart Card From Sky It appears that Sky and News Datacom are to bring in a new smart card in time for the April 1994 Cable and Satellite Show. The move is surprising considering the events of the last few months. The new 09 Sky card is believed to dark blue in colour with the Sky logo in yellow. Some people who have received their new cards have remarked on the similarity to something that KYTV would put out. The new smart card already has acquired the nick name of the "John Player Specials" after the brand of cigarettes. No doubt there will be some very witty pirate advertising on the theme of death and smoking. At this point in time the actual chip used in the 09 smart card is not known. It is rumoured that the smart card is using the same chip as the 07 smart card. If this is indeed the case, then it appears that Sky and News Datacom believe that the security of the 07 smart card was not compromised. Of course there could be some added traps in the new smart card designed specifically to prevent reverse-engineering or analysis. Admittedly their system has been truly and utterly compromised. Each of the ECMs implemented on their system seems to have had minimal effect on the pirate smart card market. Some of the hackers have come up with the solution to the ECMs within a few minutes of their implementation. This did not look good for Sky and News Datacom. The theory on the new smart card was that it was to be launched in August with a complete switch-over occurring in November. The counsel for Sky in the Irish High Court stated that it would have been November before Sky could introduce a new smart card. This change of tack has been strange to say the least. The first hints that Sky were about to launch a new card issue filtered through in January. Some of the hacked channels were a bit more reassured. Perhaps soon their problems would be over. Among the hardest hit of these was TV Asia. The European market for this channel was being thoroughly being exploited. TV Asia are part of the Sky tier and have no separate card. While in some senses this is a sound economical move, it has tied them into the fate of the Sky channels. When Sky was hacked, TV Asia fell by default. The Adult Channel was also heavily affected by the piracy. Though the smart cards for this channel are legitimately available in the UK and Ireland for fifty pounds, the channel was still hacked. The programming on this channel is only "adult" by UK standards. In the rest of Europe, the channel is not considered to be hard core. As a result Red Hot Television had a ready market. The Adult Channel did however upgrade to a new card issue recently but the new code table was quickly established. It is perhaps the one channel that will continue to be hacked despite a new 09 Sky smart card. The reason is that the Adult Channel uses a different smart card. The new 09 smart card has apparently been in production since November or so of last year. The problem with piracy has been brought home to Sky with their defeat in the Irish High Court. The path of action does somehow seem muddled in light of the new card release. If they were going to bring out a new card issue was it really worth the risk of losing money and credibility in doing battle in the courts? France Telecom Wins Injunction Against Megasat In Germany France Telecom took legal action against hacker smart card manufacturers, Megasat. The court hearing was held on Wednesday March 16th and was over in about half an hour. The decision of the court was questionable. According to some sources France Telecom based their claim on the fact that a number in their smart cards had been partially found in the Megasat card. The number apparently was a number that was not yet used in the D2-MAC EuroCrypt system. Therefore France Telecom drew the conclusion that the Megasat card had infringed the copyright of their smart card program. However it was not that simple. Apparently France Telecom had been working hard to get the software in the Megasat card dumped. Again according to sources, they had only found half of their number. Strangely the court ruled in France Telecom's favour. This injunction that the court granted stops Megasat in trading in D2-MAC cards until the case comes to trial. However the main market for Megasat is in the Sky cards. This decision is a somewhat hollow victory for France Telecom. There are other manufacturers of hacker D2-MAC cards. The market is presently so unsettled that if France Telecom go after other manufacturers there may be a tactical release. The term is from Nuclear War theory and the effect on D2-MAC would be similar. the software for the hack may be released on to bulletin boards all over Europe. Canal Plus ECM Successful In a bid to stem the flow of piracy on their channels, Canal Plus implemented an electronic countermeasure. The effect on the growing hacker smart card market has been devastating. The ECM apparently affected all makes of hacker smart cards. The prime reason for the popularity of Canal Plus among English speaking viewers is not that they want to learn to speak French. The prime reason is that Canal Plus screens hard core porn. It would appear that the Adult Channel is not hard core enough. The EuroCrypt-M system as used by Canal Plus, FilmNet and TV1000 is more complex and more upgradable than VideoCrypt. Perhaps as a direct result of this complexity, the chip used for the hacker cards is the PIC16C57. The PIC16C57 is a One Time Programmable version and when there is an ECM, the chip is binned. The chip also has a greater memory capacity than the PIC16C54. New Hacker Smart Card Deals With ECMs The latest Hacker smart card from Satellite Decoding Systems for the VideoCrypt system will cope with all of the known ECMs. It includes a touch sensitive pad which allows the card to step through the ECMs. The name for the new card is the Magic Touch. Some hackers have called it "Digital Democracy" as they say it is giving the finger to Sky. Naturally Sky and News Datacom will not appreciate this new device. Though the 09 smart cards are still being launched, this new hacker card is reprogrammable. Satellite Decoding Systems have been selling a large number of smart cards in Ireland and Europe since winning the Irish court case. In December it was estimated that Sky had some 15,000 Irish subscribers. This figure would have halved by now as more people are moving towards the hacker cards. Black Book 4 To Be Published In April In late April, the fourth Black Book will be published. The Black Book is also known as European Scrambling Systems. It is the bible of the Blackbox Industry. The new version concentrates on the smart card hacks and how they operate. Details of smart cards and computer monitoring circuitry are provided. The majority of the systems in Europe are now hacked. Perhaps more importantly it shows how the present hacks will develop in the near future. The chapter on cryptology has been expanded to cover message digests, hash functions and one way functions. The Fiat Shamir Zero Knowledge Test, allegedly used in VideoCrypt is fully explained. Details of how crypto systems are hacked are also dealt with in detail. In the Irish High Court, Sky and News Datacom claimed that they had developed a one way function. This chapter examines that claim and shows both how a one way function works and how a crypto system based on a one way function would operate. The price is 29 Irish pounds including postage in Ireland and the UK. (Europe 32 pounds including postage) Orders received before the 22nd of April publication date can avail of the prepublication price of 25 Irish pounds. (Ireland, Uk and Europe).