p17-20 IPTV@IBC08 Security v3 23/7/08 14:47 Page 18
IPTV@IBC08 > Security Cable & Satellite Europe
Yet there are clear signs that this is changing. As the qual- rity solutions to telcos, a business model that was devel-
ity and range of content expands, so too does the demand oped in the multi-subscriber broadcast world. However,
to protect it adequately from the threat of piracy, says CA for many IPTV operators facing an absence of substantial
specialist Irdeto’s (IBC Stand 1.D51) director of IPTV subscriber numbers there has been a reluctance to invest
Werner Strydom. “The indications are that telcos are sig- significant sums of money on conditional access systems.
nificantly less proficient at acquiring premium VOD con- This has resulted in some security vendors developing
tent than their DVB counterparts,” he explains. software-based solutions that offer a level of security at
“However, the situation is improving and IPTV operators much lower cost. The debate as to the relative levels of
have been acquiring more and more premium content, security afforded by both models rumbles on.
with earlier release windows.” Verimatrix develops software-based security solutions
In the past, he says, content owners were less strict specifically targeting IPTV operators and for Christian,
about security requirements for IPTV operators than they the arguments against software fall on deaf ears. “After an
are now. “This resulted in some early IPTV deployments initial introductory period it has not been difficult to
that relied on very simple security solutions,” he says. champion the merits of a software versus hardware secu-
“This is no longer deemed acceptable by content owners.” rity approach to operators and studios,” he explains. “It
For Silverman, the adequacy of software-based security has been a simple case of illustrating the effectiveness of
systems in particular have not been fully tested because our solutions through demonstrations, combined with
hackers are targeting well-known satellite and cable plat- the logic of substantially decreased costs when employing
forms with the most tempting array of content, rather these systems. The current plethora of available delivery
than the less established IPTV platforms. However, as formats and the requirements of content owners mean
subscribers numbers grow and IPTV operators sign operators and studios are leaning towards software-based
more lucrative deals, so too does the threat of an attack. CA systems from a security, cost and sustainability point
“IPTV platforms are perceived to be less prone to hacker of view.” Taking it one step further, he suggests that cable
attacks,” says Silverman. “This is mainly because most of operators have been sitting up and taking note of the ben-
them are still small, with less content and therefore a efits of software systems. There has been “widespread
smaller potential black market. However, this would adoption” of software-based security system by the cable
quickly change should the subscriber numbers grow industry, he says.
drastically and theft of HD content becomes a problem. Irdeto has established itself as a major DVB condition-
As the threat perception goes up, so too will the need for al access player but has recently developed a software-
Verimatrix has robust security systems.” based solution targeting IPTV operators because of “cus-
developed its tomer demand”, according to Strydom. Convincing telcos
own watermarking of the merits of software-solutions has posed few prob-
technology to offer Different approaches lems, he says, but it could be a different story for the stu-
an additional security dios. “Unlike DVB operators, telcos have a clear prefer-
layer for IPTV Some conditional access providers have continued to rely ence for a software-based security solution. The client-
operators. on the sale of smartcard-based technology to deliver secu- based technologies and solutions used by telcos are tradi-
tionally software-based and they have the appropriate
infrastructure to manage software-based security solu-
tions.” However, the studios have been reluctant to accept
that software-based solutions offer the same levels of
security as hardware-based solutions, he suggests. “This
is not surprising, as some of the software-based security
solutions available today provide very little security.” He
says, adding that studios have responded by requiring
third-party security audits.
According to Ivan Verbesselt, Nagravision’s (IBC Stand
1.D69) senior vice-president of marketing, while the
‘walled-garden’ nature of two-way IP networks may not
require the same security as a broadcast network, opera-
tors should not rest on their laurels. Some vendors that
have initially positioned themselves firmly on the side of
hardware, including Nagravision, have nevertheless
developed smartcard-less systems that utilise the relation-
ship between the headend and the set-top box. “In an IP
two-way environment you have the benefit of a connected
device, which means you don’t need to have the full range
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