The sudden disappearance of the nanocommands from Sky's datastream have given hackers cause for worry. The nanocommands are data packets that can be used to reprogram the smart card over the air. They also can be used to make the card execute some subroutines in the algorithm. These subroutines are intended to make it more difficult to hack the algorithm to obtain the correct key table.
Rumours of 0A cards appearing throughout the UK have surfaced in the past few weeks. The distribution appears to be somewhat sporadic at the moment. The last time that Sky introduced a card, the UK was broken down into sections. The cards were distributed in one section at a time. When the all the subscribers in a section had new cards, the cards would be distributed to the next section.
This method of distribution will probably be used to distribute the 0A card. Perhaps it is based on the UK's postcode system. Ireland, not having a postcode system, was the last to be supplied with the new card. Of course this may have had something to do with the fact that Sky had at that point in time lost to David Lyons in the Irish High Court.
This year things are different. Sky has moved to try and secure its home market (the UK) from piracy. They achieved a permanent injunction against David Lyons preventing him from dealing in pirate Sky devices. Sky's legal moves over the last seven months have been more intense than those over the preceding two years.
However the legal moves by Sky have not deterred hackers and pirates. In fact if anything they have hardened the resolve of UK based pirates. So it seems that the situation is rapidly turning into the same one that preceded Dark Wednesday last year.
Sky, by their own admission in the BSkyB Vs BSB Electronics case, considered it economically non-viable to to pursue all of the pirate card dealers in the three months prior to Dark Wednesday. The same situation with the pirate 09 cards applies today. It would be financial suicide to pursue all of the UK pirate card dealers through the courts. It is something that Sky may have to consider if and when the 0A card is hacked. In the Blackbox industry in the UK, it seems that Sky is only going for the high profile pirates. Those who stick their heads above the parapet almost invariably get them shot off. The fact that most UK pirates are now maintaining a low profile has given Sky a false sense of security.
The VideoCrypt system is now totally hacked and there are freely available emulators on BBSes and internet sites. Sky would be foolish in the extreme to think that they can let this situation continue. The stockholders and the stockmarket will eventually find out. Though given the class of idiot that passes for a "media analyst" it would be a surprise if the stockmarket were even aware of the revenue that Sky loses to piracy on a monthly basis.
Though the parallels between the current situation and that that existed pre Dark Wednesday are clear, the user of the pirate device does not have the same blind confidence. Most pirate card dealers are offering no guarantee with the pirate card. Of course in the effort to win back customers, the pirates have advanced the technology. The modem update for pirate cards is already a reality.
The adverts (inset) appeared in Satellite TV Europe and What Satellite magazines. These are UK magazines. The whole pirate smart card business in the UK is out of control and there is very little that can be done to stop it. It is almost a foregone conclusion that all official smart cards will be hacked.
Sky, despite anything that their PR and legal departments may claim have lost control of their home market. They have also lost control over the technology. The problem is that they still believe in the theory that the new 0A card will cure all the piracy on the system.
On a normal system this would be the case. However Sky and News Datacom left the fundamental principle of VideoCrypt far behind. The card has to be changed on a regular basis every six or so months. It seems that VideoCrypt was never designed to handle the volume of subscribers that it now handles. Changing the cards for a couple of hundred thousand viewers may be a relatively cheap operation. Changing the cards for a few million viewers is far from cheap. It cost Sky L21 Million for the 09 Card issue.
It was pointed out that generally engineers have a poor grasp of economics. Perhaps this is so but the argument could be made that accountants and economists have a poor grasp of security.
At this point in time it is not known how much Sky is paying for the new 0A card issue. Perhaps they may even get a discount due to the failure of the security on the 09 card. Joking aside, some questions remain about the security of the 0A card. Perhaps the most important is what Sky will do if the card is hacked.