Conditional access: Difference between revisions

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{{More citations needed|date=March 2008}}

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'''Conditional access''' ('''CA''') is a term commonly used in relation to [[software]] and to [[digital television]] systems. Conditional access is that ‘just-in-time’an evaluation to ensure the person who is seeking access to content is authorized to access the content. Said another way, conditional access is a type of access management. Access is managed by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to the content.

== In software ==

Conditional access is a function that lets youan organization manage people’speople's access to the software in question, such as email, applications, and documents. It is usually offered as [[Software as a service|SaaS]] (Software-as-a-Service) and deployed in organizations to keep company [[data]] safe. By setting conditions on the access to this data, the organization has more control over who accesses the data and where and in what way the information is accessed.

When setting up conditional access, access can be limited to or prevented based on the policy defined by the [[system administrator]]. For example, a policy might require that access is available from certain networks, or access is blocked when a specific [[web browser]] is requesting the access.

==In digital television==

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The contents of ECMs and EMMs are not standardized and as such they depend on the conditional access system being used.<ref>[https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bt/R-REC-BT.1852-1-201701-I!!PDF-E.pdf Conditional-access systems for digital broadcasting 2016-10] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301233307/https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bt/R-REC-BT.1852-1-201701-I!!PDF-E.pdf|date=2023-03-01}}</ref>

The control word can be transmitted through different ECMs at once. This allows the use of several conditional access systems at the same time, a DVB feature called ''simulcrypt'', which saves bandwidth and encourages multiplex operators to cooperate. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130116162443/http://www.dvb.org/technology/standards/index.xml#conditional DVB Simulcrypt] is widespread in Europe; some channels, like the [[CNN International]] Europe from the [[Hot Bird]] satellites, can use 7seven different CA systems in parallel.

The decryption cards are read, and sometimes updated with specific access rights, either through a [[conditional-access module]] (CAM), a [[PC card]]-format card reader meeting DVB-CI standards, or through a built-in [[ISO/IEC 7816]] card reader, such as that in the [[Digibox (Sky Digital)|Sky Digibox]].

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=== Conditional access in North America ===

In [[Canada]] and [[the United States]], the standard for conditional access is provided with [[CableCARD]]s whose specification was developed by the cable company consortium [[CableLabs]].

Cable companies in the United States are required by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] to support CableCARDs. Standards exist for two-way communication (M-card), but [[satellite television]] has separate standards. Next-generation approaches in the United States eschew such physical cards and employ schemes using downloadable software for conditional access such as [[Downloadable Conditional Access System|DCAS]].

The main appeal of such approaches is that the [[access control]] may be upgraded dynamically in response to security breaches without requiring expensive exchanges of physical [[conditional-access module]]s. Another appeal is that it may be inexpensively incorporated into non-traditional media display devices such as [[portable media player]]smodules.

=== Conditional access systems ===

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| Compromised || [[DVB-S2]] compatible, used for retail BUD dish service and for commercial operations as source programming for cable operators.

Despite the Programming Center shutshutting down its consumer usage of DigiCipher 2 (as 4DTV) on August 24, 2016, it is still being used for cable headends across the United States, as well as on Shaw Direct in Canada.

|-

| 0x4A70 || DreamCrypt || Dream Multimedia || 2004

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| ||

|-

|0x5448,0x6448

|Gospell VisionCrypt

|GOSPELL DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

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| 0x0624, 0x0648, 0x0650, 0x0639 || Irdeto 3 || Irdeto || 2010 || Compromised (Cardsharing available) ||

|-

| 0x0692, 0x06A4, 0x06B6, 0x069F, 0x06AB, 0x06F1 || Irdeto Cloaked || Irdeto || Unknown || Secure ||

|-

| 0x4AA1 || [[KeyFly]] || SIDSA || 2006