Seca Mediaguard Sample Communication

View a sample Seca communication with a Smart Card (using MKFind log).

If you start MKFind and connect to your card, the card will make itself known by sending the ATR.
Upon receiving the ATR, the CAM or in this case the MKF software will start requesting information.
MKF keeps a nice log of this communication.
I will use this log to explain a bit more about Seca INS.

This is how such a MKF log file looks:
*****************************************
MKF v4 Log File
10-okt-2001 13:53:29
*****************************************
<- 3B F7 11 00 01 40 96 54 30 04 0E 6C B6 D6 90 00
-> C1 0E 00 00 08
<- C1 0E 00 00 08 0E 00 25 00 00 00 07 5B CD 90 00
-> C1 0E 00 00 08
<- C1 0E 00 00 08 0E 00 25 00 00 00 07 5B CD 90 00
-> C1 16 00 00 07
<- C1 16 00 00 07 16 00 00 00 01 00 00 FF 90 00
-> C1 12 00 00 19
<- C1 12 00 00 19 12 00 00 53 45 43 41 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 90 00
And this is how the information 'translates' into plain English. Let's explain them line by line:
3B F7 11 00 01 40 96 54 30 04 0E 6C B6 D6 90 00
Message:
This is the cards ATR string, it is sent after every reset.

C1 0E 00 00 08
Question:
What is the Card Serial also called Unique Address (UA)??
The answer should be 8 bytes long.

C1 0E 00 00 08 0E 00 25 00 00 00 07 5B CD90 00
Answer:
The red bytes are the actual 8 bytes that were requested.
The last 4 bytes of that string contain the UA.

C1 0E 00 00 08
Question:
Same as above.
Don't ask me why MKF requests this information twice.

C1 0E 00 00 08 0E 00 25 00 00 00 07 5B CD 90 00
Answer:
Same as above.

C1 16 00 00 07
Question:
How many providers are supported on the card??
The answer should be 7 bytes long.

C1 16 00 00 07 16 00 00 00 01 00 00 FF90 00
Answer:
Bytes 3 and 4 contain the actual number of supported providers.
So in this case ther is only 1 provider supported on the card.
More to this further down.

C1 12 00 00 19
Question:
Request information about provider 00.
The answer should be 19 bytes long (19 hex is 25 decimal).

C1 12 00 00 19 12 00 00 53 45 43 41 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2000 00 00 00 00 00 0090 00
Answer:
The first part of the answer (red) contains the name: 53 45 43 41 means SECA (hexadecimal notation)
The second part (purple) is in fact composed of 3 other separate strings:
- the first 4 bytes are the Card Serial (UA)
- the next 2 bytes contain the end-date of the subscription
- the last byte contains the region code

OK then one last thing to explain.

How to determine the number of provider on the card from the answer you get.
This is where it gets a bit more difficult.
You will need a scientific calculator.
You can use the Windows calculator in scientific mode.

As we have seen above, the answer for the number of providers here is 00 01.
The 2 bytes should be considered as one word.
This word should then be converted from hexadecimal to binairy.
So in the scientific calculator type in the answered bytes (in hex) and the convert them to binairy.
Try that if the hex value of these two bytes would have been 00 03.
Converted to binairy that gives you 11.
Just simply count the number of bits in this string and you have the number of providers on the card.
So 2 bits set (11) means that there are 2 providers supported on the card (provider 0 through provider 1).

OK, everything clear so far?? Well then let's go on.
What would the number of providers on the card be, if the 2 byte answer would have been 01 FF.
Just type in on your calculator 1FF (in hex) and convert to binairy.
You will notice that the binairy value is 111111111.
Well, this answer says that 9 bits are set, or in other words, 9 providers are suported (provider 0 through provider 8).

So then what is the maximum number of providers that can be on one card??
Type FFFF on your calculator and convert to binairy.
Notice that the answer is 1111111111111111, so 16 bits set, or 16 providers supported (provider 0 through provider 15).

Well then, I hope this helps to understand a bit more about SECA communication.
For more detailed information on all SECA INS you can have a look at the documents in the download section. I am sorry to say that most of them are in German. But if you ever come across a good English version, please let me know. I will put it up here too.