How To: Hack Smart Cards for satellite TVs

Hack Smart Cards for satellite TVs

Notorious hacker Chris Tarnovsky opens his underground laboratory to WIRED, providing a peek into the world of satellite television smart-card hacking. This complicated process involves nail polish, a pin head and various acids -- so don't try this at home (unless you're Chris Tarnovsky)! Chances are you won't even know what's going on here, but that's not going to stop you from watching this video tutorial on how to reverse-engineer a satellite TV smart card, is it?
He uses acetone to strip the chips. He also uses hydrochloric acid to reveal the chip. He burns a hole through the second layer of metal on the smart card. He then uses a micropositioner and a sewing needle to open the data bus and access the control line.

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23 Comments

This may show you how to but you might as well build a nuclear reactor.The equipment he uses is way beyond the average person's capabilities.

Ya I agree with you gedskem but I still found it interesting lolol

gedskem i agree with you

Yep : not for joe average...BUT very interesting if simpler method available

Well once the expert hacker figures out the chip using these methods it can be reverse engineered with software.
Software anyone could use on one of the many FTA boxes out there.
Perhaps soon the "new" Niagra 3 cards will be reverse engineered... :)

can i ask a question?

Used my lab at work..Wasted a couple but did get 1 to function.AKA Mr M.I.T

need more detail

can u help me sir?

Is he saying you can view anyones TV if there connected to the Net? Most DVR's Have an Cat5 connection... Well DTV has them to there DVR's DTV = "DirecTV"

hey men...
can i ask a question

is better pay for satellite services that buy this equipment...

thanks,would u kindly show me that how can i bypass or filter out the sattelite parasite ,emmitted by Iranian goverment on almost of the sattelite channels like HB ,nile sat,and .... to block them from viewing.

Wow, that's a big hole in sat-tv security.

anyone can help me to hack this smart card. it can only be read by it own decoder.

it really did helped me for more information

If anybody believes this idiot, you're just as stupid as he is.

"Well once the expert hacker figures out the chip using these methods it can be reverse engineered with software.
Software anyone could use on one of the many FTA boxes out there.
Perhaps soon the "new" Niagra 3 cards will be reverse engineered... :)"

did you watch the video? f cards were first. h cards came after. hu was introduced to phase out the h card. black Sunday hit look it up if you don't know about black Sunday. h cards were bricked and people still get them working. the hu was king. businesseswere making money hand over fist selling glitches monthly updates. Canadians were a huge customers as direct tv could not sell the service in Canada

people waited a long time for some hacker to fix that.

the story said he used to be a hacker and direct tv hired him. he helped

design the hu replacement which was the p5. to my knowledge the method in the video is the only way to get into those cards.

my point in all of this is that guy is 'they' he was the best ever. I believe he was the one that put out the glitch for th hu.

he was the bes, he knew the bes. the hackers you are waiting for have already been beat. direct tv raided hardware sights that had to do with smart card programming equipment., which is legal. directv filed mass lawsuits against anyone they could i dentify as purchasing equipment from the sites they raided.

even if i am wrong and they could crack all the card, why? everything on theinternet is basically free.why risk jail time?

It's so crazy what people can do with computers once they have learned how things work. I think this guy is a bit beyond the skill level of anyone else on here, so it might look easier than it is. I wonder if TV providers took action right as they saw this to try and prevent it from continuing into the future.

If this Hacker is so clever he should have a good professional job making enough money to afford a smart card or dstv subscription haha

i think if this is true, the hacker can also use this method for mobile network to make free phone calls

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