True danger of using illegal DStv streaming services
While the likelihood of being tracked down or penalised for using an illegal streaming service is low, the criminal providers of these services pose significant risks to their users — particularly regarding privacy and financial security.
Illegal IPTV services — or “pirate” streaming services — have become popular in South Africa because they offer an astounding assortment of streamable content, often at dirt-cheap prices.
While the services can boast many movies and TV shows to stream on-demand, a massive drawing card in the local landscape has been live sports content.
Pay-TV broadcaster MultiChoice invests significantly in securing the exclusive broadcasting and streaming rights for the most popular sports tournaments and events.
This content is typically restricted to DStv Compact and higher, with football available on the cheaper R399 DStv Compact streaming service, while rugby and cricket are limited to DStv Premium, priced from R799 per month.
While MyBroadband’s comparisons of international sports streaming service prices have shown that DStv Premium offers unrivalled value for money, many South Africans regard it as too expensive.
A part of this perception could be attributed to rival streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video offering far cheaper subscriptions, ignoring the fact that they don’t boast much or any live sports in South Africa.
Those disgruntled with MultiChoice’s failure to heed their calls for more choice in their packages for many years might not care about accessing its content on an illegal IPTV service.
However, their actions hurt not only MultiChoice’s revenues but also the livelihoods of local and international crews whose salaries or wages depend on content being licenced by broadcasters and streamers.
MultiChoice has worked with police to crack down on the sale and use of IPTV services and modified streaming boxes for several years.
These efforts appear to have intensified in recent months, with several key arrests of major pirated content providers.
The process of identifying illegal streaming users is complex and offers little reward for an investigation that can be resource-intensive and time-consuming.
Therefore, it makes sense that MultiChoice and law enforcement primarily focus on the providers of these services rather than their users.
Piracy subscriptions not the end goal
The real danger is not necessarily MultiChoice or the police knocking on the front door — it is users willingly inviting cybercriminals into their home network or bank account.
MultiChoice scored a significant victory with the apprehension of a distributor of Waka TV streaming boxes in June 2024.
OfferForge managing director Jonathan Miller has tried to warn people about the inherent risks of using these boxes and IPTV streaming services in general.
“You are connecting a device provided by a provider you don’t know from a country you don’t know, to your home network,” Miller said.
“This device will be able to communicate with all devices on your network and send this info to hundreds of servers,” he warned.
“Penetration testing has shown these devices have vulnerabilities and back doors that enable them to be rooted and used to relay keystrokes, CCTV footage and any data you may have exposed behind your router.”
“If you believe you don’t have anything to hide, think again. Your credit cards, bank info, ID numbers, social media passwords, email addresses, all have value on the black market.”
“The okes that are selling you the service didn’t invest a single cent into the industry,” Miller added. “Can you really trust criminals with access to your home?”
Miller’s assertion that modified Android TV boxes can be infected with dangerous software is supported by multiple investigations, including one by Linus Tech Tips.
Waka TV can also be accessed through a smart TV app that does not require a modified box. Instead, users can side-load it onto a smart TV or streaming box using an APK file.
When doing so, the user must acknowledge the risk of installing “unofficial” apps that have not been checked by their device manufacturer for security vulnerabilities or dangerous software.
With no security checks from a reliable app store, that app could come with all kinds of malware that could infect your home network.
However, one of the big issues is that several apps are available on the official stores of major smart TV brands that perform security vetting of apps.
That fuels the idea that there is no inherent risk to using the IPTV services they support and could create an impression that they are completely legal.
One example of this is IPTV Smarters Pro, which is available on Samsung’s Tizen OS.
Although not illegal in itself, the app allows users to log in with an IPTV account and connect to a web address that might be run by an illegal service.
While the risk of malware might be lower when using an app served through a legitimate store, you must still sign up with an illegal provider and share your payment details for monthly or annual subscriptions.
While you could use fake personal information and contact details to lower your exposure risk, the payment details will need to be legitimate.
In addition to potentially taking unapproved payments from your card or bank account, there is no guarantee that the service will continue to function for the entire period you paid for.
While not a risk, it is also important to note that many IPTV users have complained about poor streaming quality and buffering, particularly for sports matches.
Legitimate streaming services incur substantial costs on the servers, storage, networking, and processing hardware needed to serve millions of customers.
Failure to provide a solid service can damage their reputation — something which pirate streamers are unlikely to be concerned much about.
It is important to note that IPTV streaming is not illegal when the provider itself has the licence to offer the content. However, DStv does not license its live channels to any IPTV services.
Therefore, it is simple to identify a service illegally streaming DStv channels — if it’s not streamed through official DStv apps or a DStv Streama, it is illegal.
The same goes for other popular video streaming services — Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Showmax.
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