ITV blames News Corp company for leaking smartcard codes
updated 11:40 pm EDT, Mon March 26, 2012
NDS hiring hackers to kill Sky TV competitor?
Former ITV executives have blames the company's demise on corporate hacking that was allegedly commissioned by News Corp subsidiary NDS Group. ITV was reportedly plagued by hacking attempts, which successfully gained access to the company's smartcard codes and leaked the information online.
The repeated leaks enabled individuals to gain access to ITV's television subscription services without paying for the content. Former ITV CTO Simon Dore told BBC the piracy dealt a "killer blow" that ultimately forced the company to cease operations after four years of service.
NDS, a company that is owned by News Corp and makes smart cards for News Corp broadcasters such as Sky TV, has been accused of hiring hackers and funding websites that spread the leaked codes.
The accusations have been made by Lee Gibling, founder of a '90s website, The House of Ill-Compute (Thoic), which was allegedly used to distribute ITV's smartcard codes. Gibling claims HDS invested in servers for the site to expand and provided the NDS codes.
"They delivered the actual software to be able to do this, with prior instructions that it should go to the widest possible community," Gibling told BBC.
The accusations represent the latest alleged scandal to involve News Corp companies, following arrests over News International's alleged phone-hacking activities that were said to be used to gather private information to be leaked in British tabloids.
