
Nagravision 3 (or
Nagra3,
Nagravision Merlin) is the latest
Conditional Access System bearing the
Nagravision brand. It was developed by a company called
Nagravision, part of the
Kudelski Group. It's predecessors, Nagravision 1 and Nagravision 2 (
Cardmageddon,
Aladin) have been compromised, therefore failing to ensure the security of broadcasts of premium television content. Broadcasters around the world have been switching from N2 to N3 (N1 to N3 in Ireland) in recent times, and so far the security seems to be tight (June 2009).
The previous Nagravision systems were beaten in 1999 and 2005, and through the use of software updates for free-to-air receivers and public key sharing, TV pirates could watch all available channels from broadcasters without paying a cent in subscription fees. Whether
Nagra3 remains secure is yet to be seen, but it has already picked up wide implementation around the world.