Types of cable theft

Cable companies in general identify three major types of cable piracy:

• Passive cable theft, such as when a family moves into a home where the cable line has not been disconnected.
• People tampering with a converter box or buying an illegal set-top box.
• People making an illegal connection to the cable line, which would include splitting a cable modem that provides an Internet connection.

Cable companies say that splitting a line to obtain basic or premium cable is punishable by state cable-theft laws, with fines up to $10,000.

To prevent piracy, cable companies typically put filters at the cable box to prevent access to video signals or additional premium channels that aren't on a subscription order. The filters are supposed to stop subscribers from viewing channels they didn't pay for. In the case of a consumer subscribing to only a cable modem line, the provider might place a filter on that line to stop the video signal for cable TV.

But a hacker can obtain analog cable access to a television through a computer's cable modem by splitting the line with something like a TV tuner--widely available at electronics stores--at the filter's source. In addition, filters often aren't installed with the cable modem line, so it takes little effort on the part of an experienced hacker.

This is possible because the cable modem line contains the spectrum of signals needed to view analog cable and get high-speed data service. If the filter comes off or is not installed, the Internet access subscriber can run the cable modem line into the television and receive basic cable.

If hackers want digital channels or premium stations such as HBO, they must buy a digital scrambler or converter. Such devices are easy to find. For example, roughly 1,200 cable-box de-scramblers and converters are selling on eBay, priced at $80 and up.