[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 24-Aug-01 AT 10:42 AM (GMT)[/font][p]I've moved this here from the "miscellaneous" forum. I'm looking at why you couldn't access the keys forum in the first place.
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There are different kinds of keys for each different encryption system. Irdeto keys work on a different principle to Mediaguard or Viaccess keys, for example.
And for any one given encryption system, there are multiple different kinds of keys. For example, the Irdeto system uses a heirarchy of (hex-)master (HMK), plain-master (PMK) and plain keys (PK), as well as a number of other parameters that control access (provider-id, channel-id, dealer-ids, and more). Mediaguard uses MKs, PPUAs and a channel-specific bitmap.
These keys & ids are all under normal circumstances transmitted by the provider via satellite to the card (either a specific card or a group of cards) to activate (or deactivate) it/them in certain ways. They are transmitted as hexadecimal strings of various lengths. For example a Provider-id is three bytes long, a master-key is 8 bytes long, a channel-id two byte, etc.
A programmer such as a Phoenix/smartmouse is a device which can similarly talk to the cards, but then via the PC. So with the right software and programmer, it is possible to simulate the normal trsnmission by satellite of the keys.
The more recent innovation of programming wafer cards using whole files (as opposed to programming original smartcards using specific macro/nano commands for individual key manipulation) allows files already incorporating keys to be loaded into the card's chips. Those keys in those files can first be edited on the PC using whatever bespoke editor has been created for that file layout.
Some wafercard software is written to allow update of keys via remote control by (mis-)using the parental-contol feature of the receiver. Normally the PIN entered through that feature is placed on the official card. But a suitably programmed wafercard can pick up those data and use them instead to manipulate the keys held in its memory.
The Irdeto FreeCAM also offers the feature of update of its internal keys via the remote control.
In these two cases (freeCAM and wafercard remote updates) the data need to be entered in decimal format (since a remote control only has digits 0 to 9 available) and is then converted to hexadecimal by the card/CAM software.
SOME but not ALL keys are the same for everyone.
AN example of a key that is NOT the same for everyone is the masterkey of an Irdeto card. It is unique to the card (ie associated with one particular official subscriber). If such a key becomes public, it can be built into wafercard files, but then the provider will soon discover that and can easily transmit a command to "kill" that subscriber card (thereby potentially knocking out a whole bunch of cloned hobby cards).
An example of a key that is NOT specific to a particular subscriber is the Irdeto plainkey. Such keys can easily and frequently be changed by the provider, but some don't do that for reasons known only to themselves. This can mean that even though such keys are long in the public domain, anyone can put them into their card and get a picture.
You might then ask yourself why anyone would bother with a subscriber-specific masterkey if all that is needed is a generic plainkey. The answer is that the masterkey allows full auto-update of the cards when/if the provider does decide to change the keys(s) lower in the heirarchy.
2old
