Viaccess is aconditional access system developed byOrange S.A. There are six versions in use today,Viaccess PC2.3,Viaccess PC2.4,Viaccess PC2.5,Viaccess PC2.6,Viaccess ACS3.x/Prime Sentinel,Viaccess ACS4.1,Viaccess ACS5.0, andViaccess ACS6.x/Adaptive Sentinel.
Viaccess was developed as the digital version of theEuroCrypt system used with the hybridMAC system,
The first version is sometimes referred to as Viaccess 1, and the latter three, although different, as Viaccess 2.PC2.3 andPC2.4 are known to be ineffective, and manyset-top boxes can be 'patched' to decrypt Viaccess signals without payment, howeverPC2.5 andPC2.6 are secure, withPC2.5 remaining secure two years after its first commercial deployment.PC2.6 was introduced at the end of 2005.PC3.0 was introduced during mid-2007.
There are two modifications of Viaccess PC2.3 in use. The first, known as TPS Crypt, is used byTPS. Despite being compromised also, the TPS Crypt system has been further modified to use Advanced Encryption System (AES) keys. These AES keys were originally updated once weekly, however after this inconvenienced unauthorised viewers little, a second TPS crypt system was introduced, by which keys are changed every 12 minutes, with keys being sent over TPS's internal Open TV system. This therefore meant that only TPS receivers could receive the new AES key, and not the insecure TPS subscription cards. Monitoring and analysing of the keys by hacking groups, however, has brought about key lists, where the AES keys have been successfully predicted. Implementation of this procedure of automatically updating keys has proved difficult, if not impossible, to implement on many satellite receivers, rendering the TPS Crypt AES system a general success.
In 2008, Viaccess acquiredOrca interactive and in 2012 they merge under the nameViaccess-Orca,[1] which specializes in video content security and anti-piracy, OTT & IPTV platforms and targeted TV advertising.
The second Viaccess modification, called ThalesCrypt, is used byCanal Satellite France to protect its contents on the transport network to the head-ends of the cable networks; it is an over-encryption mechanism of the original protocol encryption keys.
Viaccess is currently used by a large number of providers. These include:
Viaccess is the 3rd largestconditional access system provider in the world (in 2004).
Viaccess is also a subsidiary ofOrange S.A. which offerspay TV anddigital rights management enabled software.
Orca Interactive is a subsidiary of Viaccess which offersIPTV Middleware since 2008.