BISS (Basic Interoperable Scrambling System).
BISS (Basic Interoperable Scrambling System) is a conditional access system for satellite communication channels developed by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and a consortium of equipment manufacturers.
(Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia)
Before the BISS system was developed, satellite broadcasters transmitted their content either using their own scrambling (encryption) methods or without it at all.
Proprietary encryption methods were determined by the manufacturers of the encoding equipment, which imposed restrictions on the type of satellite receiver, as a separate receiver had to be used for each channel. BISS developers attempted to create an "open platform" for encryption systems that could be used by many equipment manufacturers.
To provide protection in BISS, a 12-digit "session key" is used, agreed upon by the transmitting and receiving parties before the transmission itself takes place and pre-entered into the receiving and transmitting equipment. After encrypting the signal, the "session key" becomes part of the transmitted content and only a receiver with the correct key can receive and decrypt the signal. Currently, this encoding is not used by pay-TV operators because it is outdated and very easy to crack.
Satellite channels do not broadcast exclusively to the territory of a particular state, and not all content is licensed for broadcast to other countries. Thus, broadcasting in FTA can be considered a violation of the law in certain cases. For this reason, BISS encoding is still quite popular and allows the broadcaster to formally comply with the law, while it is not difficult for the user to find out the key for decryption. In particular, such encoding is relevant during the live broadcast of sporting events (for example, the open Azerbaijani channel Lider TV uses BISS encoding during the broadcast of football matches).
BISS is a cardless coding system.
To receive TV channels encoded in Biss, you only need a small piece of software installed in the receiver or module. The length of BISS keys allows them to be calculated by simple brute force. There were projects of enthusiasts on the network at different times, which were engaged in calculating keys for Biss encoding.
In most cases, the keys do not change. But most TV channels, coming from satellites in Biss-encoding, are easy to find keys on the Internet. The very appearance of keys in most cases is a leak of keys to the Internet by the broadcaster itself, to provide access to its TV channels.
A channel encoded in BISS may not change its encoding for years. Sometimes, channels can include BISS encoding during the broadcast of some individual programs, for example, football matches or concerts. Therefore, the table provides BISS keys for some channels that are considered uncoded in normal broadcasting (marked with an asterisk «*»).