A digital broadcast system provides secure transmission of digital programs
to in-home digital devices even when some of the devices are unauthorized.
A matrix of device keys S.sub.j,i is provided, wherein "i" is a key index
variable indicating a position in a key dimension of the matrix and "j" is
a sets index variable indicating a position in a sets dimension of the
matrix. Each in-home device is assigned plural dev ice keys from the
matrix, with one and only one device key for each key index variable "i"
being assigned to a device. To generate a session key for a broadcast
program, session numbers x.sub.i are encrypted with all device keys
S.sub.j,i to generate a session key block which is decrypted by the
in-home devices and used to generate a session key for decrypting the
program. If one of the devices is a compromised device, at least one of
the session numbers is a dummy number that is encrypted and decrypted by
the corresponding compromised device key, with the resulting session key
being useless in decrypting the program.