Irdeto 2

Irdeto 2 refers to a Conditional Access System developed by a company called Irdeto, a subsidiary of media group Naspers. Irdeto provides both software and smart card-based Conditional Access Systems to protect Pay TV content from unauthorized viewing by non-subscribers. The company provides technology which supports CATV, Satellite broadcasts, Terrestrial, MMDS and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services. Irdeto has headquarters in Amsterdam and in Beijing.



The Irdeto 1 technology was used to protect against TV piracy globally, but in 1999 the system was found to be compromized and unsafe for use to prevent unauthorized viewing. As a response, Irdeto 2 was released as an upgrade. The changeover from Irdeto 1 to Irdeto 2 requires card swap-outs, and while the system is considered partially-compromized today, it is still in wide use and no new swap-outs seem to have been required.