Two suspects have been arrested and a major African piracy ring broken up following a raid of its premises in Cairo by the Egyptian Cybercrimes Unit.
It follows a joint investigation by African pay-TV operators, security specialist Irdeto, the Egyptian Cybercrime Unit and the Egyptian Ministry of Interior.
The arrests mark the culmination of one of the largest investigations into a large-scale smart card sharing piracy network.
In a statement Irdeto said the raid uncovered several electronic components, a server, 40 smart cards, several pirate decoders, smart card readers and other related equipment typically used within a pirate smart card sharing operation. Cash of over US$230,000 was also seized during the raid. All equipment confiscated during the raids will be analyzed by the Egyptian Cybercrimes Unit and more arrests are forthcoming.
The two suspects have been remanded in custody, pending a court appearance.
Rory O’Connor, VP of Services at Irdeto, said, “As long as there are consumers who are prepared to pay for illegal content, pirates will continue to try to hack encryption systems and turn a profit. Irdeto remains dedicated to identifying and countering organized criminal enterprises who wish to circumvent our customers’ security measures and financially profit from pirated content. Together with the pay TV operators and local authorities, we will relentlessly fight these illegal operations on the African continent, using technology and the law to its fullest extent.”
One of Irdeto’s key customers is the South African pay-TV platform Multichoice.
