10th grade students in Bac Ninh 'cracked' many major TV channels in 30 seconds

With just a “low-end” phone and knowledge learned from underground technology groups, a 10th grader has built his own illegal television system called VThanhTV, broadcasting nearly 1,000 channels from central, local to international. This boy can hack major pay TV channels such as

10th grade student runs series of illegal broadcasting channels

Sharing about the problem of television copyright infringement, Mr. Han Viet Linh, Deputy Chief of Office of VTVcab, revealed: “ A 10th grade student in Bac Giang (formerly) has built a large-scale illegal television system called VThanhTV. This system not only has more than 5,000 members but also provides nearly 1,000 television channels from central, local to international, including exclusive content of many major stations ”.

Mr. Han Viet Linh, Deputy Chief of Office of VTVcab, said that the VThanhTV incident has exposed major loopholes in the security systems of many pay TV providers in Vietnam. (Photo: PV)

It is worth mentioning that this teenager did not need a server or high-end hardware, but only used a cheap phone and learned how to break encryption from underground technology groups on social networks. During the investigation, this young hacker admitted that he could break the encrypted signals of major pay TV channels in Vietnam such as: K+, VNPT ... in just 30 seconds.

However, he was helpless against VTVcab's system. " I can crack everything but I can't crack VTVcab because you guys use complex L1 DRM encryption ," the boy confessed.

The reason is that VTVcab uses complex L1 DRM standard encryption, high-level security similar to international platforms such as Netflix, Disney+. This is also a rare bright spot in the current domestic digital content system.

Security holes or ecosystems that are too easily exploited

The VThanhTV incident exposed major vulnerabilities in the security systems of many pay TV providers in Vietnam.

The lack of strict DRM management policies, combined with the fact that services have not yet applied personalized watermarks (attaching hidden IDs to streams), makes it easy for hackers to record, decrypt, and reshare without being traced.

In addition, the trend of developing decentralized OTT and IPTV platforms instead of centralized ones also makes controlling pirated signals more difficult. Just one signal source is cracked, the entire "distribution chain" can spread in minutes.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Han, CEO of Thu Do Multimedia, shared more about this issue: “ Fighting copyright infringement cannot rely solely on the law. This is a real technology race. We have used a radical solution which is a real-time AI infringement scanning tool. If we do not do so, after just one click, the content can be copied and spread globally. Therefore, I believe that the problem of taking content from one country to broadcast to another country will also be stopped and very effectively .”

In reality, illegal broadcasting groups like VThanhTV are not alone but may be a link in a cross-border network of violations. They operate as secret societies, their signals flow through multiple layers, and there are even signs of underground transactions selling illegal TV packages at cheap prices.

The consequences of pirated platforms go beyond lost revenue. Watching TV from pirated websites carries the risk of personal data being leaked, malware infection, and even bank account hijacking because these sites often include hidden ads.

For users, it is important to understand that supporting pirated television is not only a violation of the law, but also fuels an entire underground ecosystem that is destroying the country's digital content industry.

(Source: Vietnamnet)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/hoc-sinh-lop-10-o-bac-ninh-be-khoa-nhieu-kenh-truyen-hinh-lon-trong-30-giay-ar958390.html