This section explores the threats and risks for IPTV service, while the risk assessment or threat analysis for IPTV service networks are out of the contribution, they are some local matters that can be handled by each provider differently. According to the protected assets of IPTV service, there are various types of threats may aim at them.
1. Content source
Here the key problem is how to ensure that the contents are compliant with law/regulatory and business requirements (e.g. observe various copyright laws, prevent the unallowable racist or sexually explicit materials, etc). Current technical and management protection systems can be used as much as possible.
2. Service integration & Operation
- Accidental threats which result in service interruption: threats without malicious intent, such as a power failure, a technical hitch of an equipment, etc.
- Intentional threats aiming at service platform: malicious attacks (e.g. denial of service attack, unauthorized access) to the IPTV service platform or viruses infection.
- Impingement copyrights of the programs which IPTV service platform provided to the subscribers.
- Stealing/eavesdropping subscribers’ important information (e.g. login ID or password).
- Attempt to collection, spread or sale the information of subscribers’ privacy without their permission.
3. Content Transport
- Accidental threats which can result in network equipments failure or transport service interruption: a threat without malicious intent, such as a power failure, a technical hitch of the equipment, etc.
- Intentional threats aim at the network equipments or resources (bandwidth): malicious attacks (e.g. denial of service attack, unauthorized access) to the transport network.
- Legitimate consumers abuse the service network resources, and result in huge garbage information which is harmful to the network.
- Security of multicast protocols: there are no security protections (such as authentication to the multicast source, control of multicast group members) in the basic IP multicast protocols, so the multicast security will be one important problem in IPTV transport network.
- Unauthorized data deletion, insertion, modification, re-ordering, replay or delay.
- Unauthorized data (i.e. the data come from the illegal IPTV program sources) transmission.
- Masquerade IPTV service nodes in the carrier network.
- Security threats to CDN.
4. Content consumption
- The failure of the terminal equipments (hardware and software) caused by malicious codes/viruses from the network.
- Remote theft of the subscribers’ important information (e.g. login ID and password) by malicious programs, such as Trojan horse.
- Unauthorized duplication, redistribution or any other threats to the copyrights of programs received from networks.
E-Journal Risk Assessment for IPTV System