Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!mandrill!neoucom!wtm
From: wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Software Protection with dongles.
Summary: hardware protection isn't working in the cable TV industry
Message-ID: <943@neoucom.UUCP>
Date: 15 Jan 88 14:15:59 GMT
References: <2333@crash.cts.com>
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Lines: 33


The cable TV industry is currently learning that hardware
protection is not terribly effective.  MA/Com, now bought out by
General Instrments, designed the Videocipher II for HBO and a number
of other programmers to attempt to prevent useful interception of
their transmission by consumer satellite receiving equipment.

The videocipher uses some pretty neat ideas and at first appearance
would be relatively secure since the audio feed is digitized and
transmitted with DES coding.  The problem with the videocipher is
that the key management in the hardware was vulnerable.  MA/Com
crowed long and loud that the videocipher was virtually impossilbe
to defeat.  Within 3 months after the videocipher hit the street,
it was neutralized and pirates were again receiving programming
that they were not authorized for.  Ever since there has been an
escalating war twixt pirates and the satellite programmers with GI
fixing security holes and pirates finding a new method to
circumvent the security.

Pirates are extremely resourceful, and remarkably persistent.  They
are also at least as smart as we are.  Probably any hardware method
will be relatively quickly circumvented, as GI has emberassedly
learned.  GI's lesson is probably equally applicable to computer
dongles.

The main hope for dongles is that they be convenient enough that
mom and pop users won't mind using them, and mom and pop won't
bother scrounging around in BBSs for cracked software.  The best
method for getting a dongle to be accepted is to make it do
something useful.


--Bill