hacker publishes secret Sony PlayStation 3 key

Thrill

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12116051

Extracts from the story......

The PlayStation 3's security has been broken by hackers, potentially allowing anyone to run any software - including pirated games - on the console

"The complete console is compromised - there is no recovery from this," said pytey, a member of the fail0verflow group of hackers, who revealed the initial exploit at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin in December.

"This is as bad as it gets - someone is getting into serious trouble at Sony right now."


"Sony uses a private key, usually stored in a vault at the company's HQ, to mark firmware as valid and unmodified, and the PS3 only needs a public key to verify that the signature came from Sony.

"Applied correctly, it would take billions of years to derive the private key from the public key, or to make a signature without knowing the private key, even when you have all the computational power in the world at your disposal."

But the team found that Sony had made a "critical mistake" in how it implemented the security.


"The signing recipe requires that a random number be used as part of the calculation, with the caveat that that number must be truly random and not predictable in any way," the team said.


"However, Sony wrote their own signing software, which used a constant number for each signature."


This allowed the team to use "simple algebra" to uncover Sony's secret key, without access to it.


"This is supposed to be the most secret of secret of secrets - it's the Crown jewels," said pytey


Last year, a team released a USB dongle called PSjailbreak that contained software that allowed gamers to play homemade and pirated games on the PlayStation 3.


Sony updated its consoles to block the software and took legal action against distributors in many countries.
However, according to pytey, it may not be so easy to fix the problem this time.


"The only way to fix this is to issue new hardware," he said. "Sony will have to accept this."

Mperrozzi

Thrill wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12116051

Extracts from the story......

Probably a stupid question ,

But is this good or bad for us ps3 players ?

Gulliver

Bad, I'd imagine. You'll have to have a member of the SS (Sony Security) team present at all times when using a PS3 from now on.

aN.Droid

Gulliver wrote: »

Bad, I'd imagine. You'll have to have a member of the SS (Sony Security) team present at all times when using a PS3 from now on.

I lol'd

Good or bad? You decide. On the one hand people will use this to play homebrew games and applications and add functionality to the ps3 but this will be the minority which includes myself. The majority will ofcourse use this for playing backed up games and other bad stuff like that.

I know you could do the majority of all this anyway with the usb hack but not on new firmwares and not to the extent you can now with this new information available.

Keep your eyes peeled in the near future. I for one will be looking forward to playing ps2 games on my slim and playing mkv's

Korvanica

same here, cant wait! bring on the brew!

RedXIV

Are they releasing the Private key? that would be bad news. Official looking updates could be sent all over the place and could easily be virus's in disguise.

Am hoping this does end up being a good thing but will be wary about it for a while

Private Snafu

It has been released and a modified firmware (which does not allow piracy) has also been released. As for 'virus' updates, just be sure of what you're downloading (check MD5 ect....)

As far as added functionality goes I'm hoping for a decent media centre akin to XBMC and the restoration of OtherOS. For those interested info on this can be found in the console modding forum

macpac26

This is bad in my view. I want a secure and stable console especially considering I purchase content on the store and enter credit card information. I don't want the security compromised in any way. Attention seeking clowns.

trellheim

Perhaps. However it has compared to other platforms taken a long time to do, so well done to the initial designers.

It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Korvanica

sony will probably issue an update to remove functionality ...

all functionality...

Myrddin

macpac26 wrote: »

This is bad in my view. I want a secure and stable console especially considering I purchase content on the store and enter credit card information. I don't want the security compromised in any way. Attention seeking clowns.

Well don't install anything other than official Sony updates etc? Attention seeking clowns? I'm thankful to them, it will be nice to have some capabilities added to the PS3 this time. As a consequence, the same technique was applied to the PSP and has worked. All current firmware on PS3 & PSP is now an open platform for devs.

I don't even pretend to understand the whole thing, but according to one of the members of this team, because Sony's private digital signature key has been calculated (not cracked, hacked, stolen or leaked - calculated!), this is unfixable on current hardware. New hardware will have to be designed & manufactured, similar to what was done with the PSP some time ago.

trellheim wrote: »

Perhaps. However it has compared to other platforms taken a long time to do, so well done to the initial designers.

It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Well done? When you read up about the technicalities of how this was achieved, you'll be amazed Sony could allow for such a monumental design flaw in their crytpography. This particular team has only been looking at the PS3 for a couple of months according to them, so the time taken isn't really applicable.

Korvanica wrote: »

sony will probably issue an update to remove functionality ...

all functionality...

I've said it before, & I'll say it again, the PS4 will be just an empty plastic casing

Varik

I've no problem with the guys who can do this it's the ones that aren't so smart and couldn't do anything to the PS3 for 4 years who piss me off as they just try to make names for themselves by making piracy work.

According to Digital foundry it's not a simple task to get a some kind of loader working on this and i find that the better a hackers skills are the less amoral the are, the guys who make **** to steal credit card numbers and then the guys who point out holes in government & private systems aren't the same.

Still not going to use it as even if Sony can't stop it they could still detect it.

partyatmygaff

Even so the PS3 (and PSP...) is now for all intents and purposes an entirely open platform. Both consoles no longer have any form of platform security and Sony can do almost nothing about it. For those who do not understand, this "master key" is the digital signature that Sony use on every single PS3/PSP executable. Now that this is released the entire world can now sign their own software and do as they like with their console. The only way Sony can counter this is to change the key and its cryptography and then to release new hardware for both the PSP and PS3. Considering how expensive something like that would be and the fact that both the PSP and PS3 are very late in their life cycles (The PSP at least) Sony is being put in a very difficult position.

Myrddin

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Even so the PS3 (and PSP...) is now for all intents and purposes an entirely open platform. Both consoles no longer have any form of platform security and Sony can do almost nothing about it. For those who do not understand, this "master key" is the digital signature that Sony use on every single PS3/PSP executable. Now that this is released the entire world can now sign their own software and do as they like with their console. The only way Sony can counter this is to change the key and its cryptography and then to release new hardware for both the PSP and PS3. Considering how expensive something like that would be and the fact that both the PSP and PS3 are very late in their life cycles (The PSP at least) Sony is being put in a very difficult position.

Changing the key through an update, will render every single piece of software & games prior to the update unuseable. Updates for games etc could be released, but it would be a really last ditched effort by Sony, as not everyone with a PS3 has an internet connection (worldwide).

Plus! An update with the new keys would have to be signed with the old key in order to run on current firmwares. This means it is decryptable, & new keys hidden inside it would be viewable.

I'm fully open to being corrected & will hold my hand up if wrong, the only realistic method of Sony recovering from this is a new hardware variation, with the old key & a new key useable on it out of the box. How this would work with future games on current hardware though is a further complication. You could debate all night, but in my own limited view, this catastrophic error in the cryptography may well be a killer blow for Sony. That being said, they will have brains working around the clock on this, who knows what's up their sleeve.

Another option might be to transform PSN into a paid for service, & obviously introduce screening to check for modified firmwares etc. Modified consoles could then be banned/crippled like the XBL system. It works for them.

Varik - Again, it hasn't taken four years to break the security. Mathieulh himself tweeted that as long as OtherOS was present, & a Linux platform was available, serious hackers had no interest in the system. It's an ethos that Sony got spot on with the release of the PS3. He then stated that the removal of OtherOS in the Slim was what prompted Geohot to begin looking at the system. This in turn led to Sony removing OtherOS completely through a firmware 'upgrade'. And that, was what got us to where we are today - that decision by Sony. They really should have cleanud up any exploits within OtherOS & kept in in tact to prevent all this.

Hopefully, they will have learned a valuable lesson here.

Varik

EnterNow wrote: »

Varik - Again, it hasn't taken four years to break the security. Mathieulh himself tweeted that as long as OtherOS was present, & a Linux platform was available, serious hackers had no interest in the system. It's an ethos that Sony got spot on with the release of the PS3. He then stated that the removal of OtherOS in the Slim was what prompted Geohot to begin looking at the system. This in turn led to Sony removing OtherOS completely through a firmware 'upgrade'. And that, was what got us to where we are today - that decision by Sony. They really should have cleanud up any exploits within OtherOS & kept in in tact to prevent all this.

Hopefully, they will have learned a valuable lesson here.

Varik wrote: »

I've no problem with the guys who can do this

equals Mathieulh and serious hackers who did it in whatever time it took them.

Varik wrote: »

it's the ones that aren't so smart and couldn't do anything to the PS3 for 4 years who piss me off as they just try to make names for themselves by making piracy work.

took them 4 years as soon as it came out trying to pirate games.

EnterNow wrote: »

Another option might be to transform PSN into a paid for service, & obviously introduce screening to check for modified firmwares etc. Modified consoles could then be banned/crippled like the XBL system. It works for them.

Screening will probably be a given but making all games include a equivalent to EAs online pass rather than paid service as that would be a harder sell when they need to keep the current PSN free to compare favourable to Xbox live.
Also even with this used games are a bigger problem than console piracy.

partyatmygaff

EnterNow wrote: »

Changing the key through an update, will render every single piece of software & games prior to the update unuseable. Updates for games etc could be released, but it would be a really last ditched effort by Sony, as not everyone with a PS3 has an internet connection (worldwide).

Plus! An update with the new keys would have to be signed with the old key in order to run on current firmwares. This means it is decryptable, & new keys hidden inside it would be viewable.

They don't really have any hope of correcting the issue through software unless they've something as of yet unknown hidden up their sleeves.

I'm fully open to being corrected & will hold my hand up if wrong, the only realistic method of Sony recovering from this is a new hardware variation, with the old key & a new key useable on it out of the box. How this would work with future games on current hardware though is a further complication. You could debate all night, but in my own limited view, this catastrophic error in the cryptography may well be a killer blow for Sony. That being said, they will have brains working around the clock on this, who knows what's up their sleeve.

It's a killer blow for the PSP and the PS3. The PSP's security had been already compromised but now that the key is released all generations of the PSP are now entirely open no matter what firmware revision they run.

Another option might be to transform PSN into a paid for service, & obviously introduce screening to check for modified firmwares etc. Modified consoles could then be banned/crippled like the XBL system. It works for them.

They could but that would obliterate one major selling point of the PS3 that is free online play.

Varik - Again, it hasn't taken four years to break the security. Mathieulh himself tweeted that as long as OtherOS was present, & a Linux platform was available, serious hackers had no interest in the system. It's an ethos that Sony got spot on with the release of the PS3. He then stated that the removal of OtherOS in the Slim was what prompted Geohot to begin looking at the system. This in turn led to Sony removing OtherOS completely through a firmware 'upgrade'. And that, was what got us to where we are today - that decision by Sony. They really should have cleanud up any exploits within OtherOS & kept in in tact to prevent all this.

Sony made a major tactical error removing OtherOS. Real hackers have no interest in piracy and having Linux support out of the box kept them "at bay". The moment Sony removed OtherOS they gave developers an incentive to start looking at the PS3. The best security that the PS3 had was actually OtherOS as it kept hackers satisfied.

gizmo

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Sony made a major tactical error removing OtherOS. Real hackers have no interest in piracy and having Linux support out of the box kept them "at bay". The moment Sony removed OtherOS they gave developers an incentive to start looking at the PS3. The best security that the PS3 had was actually OtherOS as it kept hackers satisfied.

This has been mentioned a couple of times however people seem to forget that Geohot started publicly working on the console before OtherOS was removed. The jailbreak came a short while later, short enough that there was no way work was only started after OtherOS was removed.

As for the fix, EnterNow is correct, due to the nature of the breach it cannot be patched with a software or firmware update. Sony will now simply have to release new hardware and probably add a whitelist for all current games so they can work.

As for PSN, well I'd almost guarantee Sony will be following in MS' footsteps and doing annual banhammers for modified consoles detected connecting to the service.

RedXIV

gizmo wrote: »

As for the fix, EnterNow is correct, due to the nature of the breach it cannot be patched with a software or firmware update. Sony will now simply have to release new hardware and probably add a whitelist for all current games so they can work.

I'd have to agree, I've spent the last half hour with a few old classmates trying to think of a way around this and it seems to be impossible with the current available information.


Have to say, someone def screwed up in the security department when writing that software

Myrddin

gizmo wrote: »

This has been mentioned a couple of times however people seem to forget that Geohot started publicly working on the console before OtherOS was removed. The jailbreak came a short while later, short enough that there was no way work was only started after OtherOS was removed.

Are you sure it wasn't the arrival of the Slim that prompted his work? Or was OtherOS removed by the time the slim was released?

gizmo

EnterNow wrote: »

Are you sure it wasn't the arrival of the Slim that prompted his work? Or was OtherOS removed by the time the slim was released?

Well, the Slim was released in September 2009 and was, as you know, the first model not to have OtherOS functionality. Geohot then announced in March 2010 that he was working on a way to restore OtherOS and then in the April update, more than likely in response to this, Sony removed OtherOS functionality completely on all consoles via a firmware update.

So, one could argue that he only started his work (months later) because of the release of the Slim or that he just decided to start working on it following his iPhone work due to the reputation it had as a secure system. Personally, given the time frame involved, I think the latter is more plausible but I'm sure there'll be others out there who'll disagree.

The removal from the Slim wasn't that big a deal really as people weren't "losing" anything they had bought. The removal from other devices via the firmware update (which can almost directly be attributed to his work) however, was a big deal, especially to those who actually used it. Therefore I can see how the latter move would have angered people and driven them to hack the platform. As I said though, going by that time line I find the excuse used in this case to be bull****.

Myrddin

gizmo wrote: »

Well, the Slim was released in September 2009 and was, as you know, the first model not to have OtherOS functionality. Geohot then announced in March 2010 that he was working on a way to restore OtherOS and then in the April update, more than likely in response to this, Sony removed OtherOS functionality completely on all consoles via a firmware update.

So it backs up the theory that as long as the PS3 had a native Linux platform, nobody worth mentioning was looking at the system in order to break the security.

noodler

Under Linux, wasn't some of the power of the console still locked out?

I assume any modded program can now utilise the full power of the console?

Varik

EnterNow wrote: »

So it backs up the theory that as long as the PS3 had a native Linux platform, nobody worth mentioning was looking at the system in order to break the security.

Without the update the slims would not have had Linux but the fats still would have so if that remained the case would it have had any one have bothered,
It also probably would have been likely that at some stage hackers would have started to work on getting Linux on the slims anyway as the availability of fat PS3 diminished so this just hastened the work.

gizmo

EnterNow wrote: »

So it backs up the theory that as long as the PS3 had a native Linux platform, nobody worth mentioning was looking at the system in order to break the security.

Did you just stop reading after the first paragraph?

noodler wrote: »

Under Linux, wasn't some of the power of the console still locked out?

I assume any modded program can now utilise the full power of the console?

Yep, for one you couldn't access the RSX at all.

partyatmygaff

Personally I can't wait until someone ports Quake 3 to the PS3!

RangeR

The only way I see Sony coming back from this is to rush to market the PS4 and not have any PS3 backward support. At that stage, most games development will then shift to the new hardware base to secure income.

Myrddin

gizmo wrote: »

Did you just stop reading after the first paragraph?

Nope, I'm just one of the folks who disagrees, as mentioned in your second paragraph. You'll forgive me for taking Mathieulh's word over your good self.

There was an article that explained the timeline of the whole thing, when Geohot got involved, when certain updates arrived etc...can't find it but if I do I'll link to it.

gizmo

EnterNow wrote: »

Nope, I'm just one of the folks who disagrees, as mentioned in your second paragraph. You'll forgive me for taking Mathieulh's word over your good self.

There was an article that explained the timeline of the whole thing, when Geohot got involved, when certain updates arrived etc...can't find it but if I do I'll link to it.

Ah, that's fair enough so. I'm just surprised you discount the six month gap between OtherOS not being included on the Slim and Geohot getting involved. That and the fact that he himself was working with an older fat PS3 for his testing as was evident by the guts of the machine being displayed on his blog.

The timeline was shown during failoverflow's presentation alright and it did make mention of the dates I quoted initially. No mention was given to the timing of the other events above though. As for Mathieulh, he can only speak for himself but it would be incredibly naive to believe that no group would have attempt to hack the machine had OtherOS remained.

On that note, kudos to the guys who did I guess, they were quite clear what their motives were behind it. On the other hand, their own presentation showed the real effects of what happens when platform security is breached. If you watch the presentation you'll see a slide which shows the reason the platforms were hacked and the actual end effect of it happening. In most cases the reason was given as "Linux" and "Homebrew" but then, more tellingly, the end result is always "piracy". This, as we've discussed before is my problem with the entire thing but I guess that's besides the point.

RedXIV

RangeR wrote: »

The only way I see Sony coming back from this is to rush to market the PS4 and not have any PS3 backward support. At that stage, most games development will then shift to the new hardware base to secure income.

The thing is though, while undoubtably this will contribute to piracy, the PS3 has been doing pretty well in the last year, sales have been up of the consoles themselves. Its following the same pattern as the PS2 albeit taking slightly longer. The PS2 took a while to take hold of the market but is still profitable to today. The PS3 might also stay profitable. I'd be very surprised if Sony rushed anything to do with the PS4, especially after this, I'd say they will go over everything again to ensure these mistakes aren't made again.

You have to remember, there's a HUGE fanbase there of customers who either
1. won't pirate
2. can't pirate
3. don't know about piracy

I'd say they'll be ok for a while

partyatmygaff

That and the fact most popular ps3 games are above 10gb. Only people with reasonably high speed internet (10mb+ perhaps) would choose to pirate rather than pay for a game. Most people don't want the hassle of piracy.

Myrddin

gizmo wrote: »

Ah, that's fair enough so. I'm just surprised you discount the six month gap between OtherOS not being included on the Slim and Geohot getting involved. That and the fact that he himself was working with an older fat PS3 for his testing as was evident by the guts of the machine being displayed on his blog.

The timeline was shown during failoverflow's presentation alright and it did make mention of the dates I quoted initially. No mention was given to the timing of the other events above though. As for Mathieulh, he can only speak for himself but it would be incredibly naive to believe that no group would have attempt to hack the machine had OtherOS remained.

On that note, kudos to the guys who did I guess, they were quite clear what their motives were behind it. On the other hand, their own presentation showed the real effects of what happens when platform security is breached. If you watch the presentation you'll see a slide which shows the reason the platforms were hacked and the actual end effect of it happening. In most cases the reason was given as "Linux" and "Homebrew" but then, more tellingly, the end result is always "piracy". This, as we've discussed before is my problem with the entire thing but I guess that's besides the point.

I'm not saying I'm right & your wrong, and I very well may be wrong as to what spawned all of this. But isn't the below fact...

1) PS3 Slim released in September '09. No OtherOS available, though the hardware is fully capable of having it there.
2) Towards the end of '09, Geohot announces his plans to open the security of the PS3 system
3) January 2010, he succeeds in exploiting his PS3 through Linux under OtherOS (this is why he used the old model you referred to in the pictures you seen, it made sense to gain knowledge of the system that had Linux support).
4) March 2010, Sony releases firmware 3.21 which disables OtherOS on all existing PS3 consoles.
5) April 2010, Geohot creates a custom firmware 3.21 (yep we had custom firmwares almost a year ago) which reintroduces OtherOS.
6) Additional firmwares were released, blocking whichever access method Geohot was using.
7) September 2010, PSJailbreak is announced.

I think the rest is fairly well known. If the above is correct, then to my eye it's fairly conclusive that Sony began this chain of events with the Slim not having OtherOS. But, it's just my eye, and it's no more valid that everyone elses take on it

the_syco

Question: If a new release was cracked, removing any need for a serial, and the key added to the game, wouldn't all they need to do is let it be seen as a whitelisted game to make it work on an original unchipped playstation?

Example:

Get game
Crack it / remove serial
Add key that would show that it's an "original" uncracked game
Rename the name of the game on the disc / internal tag

If I'm reading it correctly, once the above is done, then any future releases will be able to be cracked. This may also negate any future anti-piracy / security patches?

RedXIV

the_syco wrote: »

Question: If a new release was cracked, removing any need for a serial, and the key added to the game, wouldn't all they need to do is let it be seen as a whitelisted game to make it work on an original unchipped playstation?

Example:

Get game
Crack it / remove serial
Add key that would show that it's an "original" uncracked game
Rename the name of the game on the disc / internal tag

If I'm reading it correctly, once the above is done, then any future releases will be able to be cracked. This may also negate any future anti-piracy / security patches?

Thats pretty much it. Anything you want to run on a PS3 now can be "verified" because of the availability of the master keys, be it homebrew or cracked games

Myrddin

the_syco wrote: »

Question: If a new release was cracked, removing any need for a serial, and the key added to the game, wouldn't all they need to do is let it be seen as a whitelisted game to make it work on an original unchipped playstation?

Example:

Get game
Crack it / remove serial
Add key that would show that it's an "original" uncracked game
Rename the name of the game on the disc / internal tag

If I'm reading it correctly, once the above is done, then any future releases will be able to be cracked. This may also negate any future anti-piracy / security patches?

Now that the eboot.bin file from a game is decryptable, serial/key protection wouldn't be very effective.

Sony have commented, saying that the recent exploits will be addressed in 'network updates'. Whether that means a structural update to PSN, or actual console updates via PSN remains to be seen.

macpac26

EnterNow wrote: »

Well don't install anything other than official Sony updates etc? Attention seeking clowns? I'm thankful to them, it will be nice to have some capabilities added to the PS3 this time. As a consequence, the same technique was applied to the PSP and has worked.

It hasn't worked for the PSP. Piracy is destroying that platform and it's down to these clowns. Because of them normal game buying folk have to constantly update their systems with yet more updates. I'm all for more features but this is not the way to go about it in my view.

Myrddin

macpac26 wrote: »

It hasn't worked for the PSP. Piracy is destroying that platform and it's down to these clowns. Because of them normal game buying folk have to constantly update their systems with yet more updates. I'm all for more features but this is not the way to go about it in my view.

Well the technique differs, but I assure you, as a direct consequence of recent developments the PSP is now fully open to devs - Link.

Piracy hasn't destroyed the PSP platform but for sure it has affected it, and it's the main reason why nobody in the hacking world really bothers with it these days. The above link just details how Sony made yet further mistakes with PSP security. Piracy isn't their end goal, just an unfortunate byproduct.

Varik

While this affects everyone indirectly in terms of what Sony will do and that piracy may prevent publishers from making some games or developers not doing so well, the one thing that Sony can definitely do is prevent PSN access to keep pirates and cheaters off PSN.

From what i read a backup loader is not a simple as resigning the currents ones and if all real homebrewers were to move to this cfw and leave the pirates feeding on left overs that spill on to the jailbrake scene the that's fine.

aN.Droid

macpac26 wrote: »

It hasn't worked for the PSP. Piracy is destroying that platform and it's down to these clowns. Because of them normal game buying folk have to constantly update their systems with yet more updates. I'm all for more features but this is not the way to go about it in my view.

While it is unfortunate that piracy occurs because of cracking a console or in this case a handheld you have to admit a MAJOR buying point for the psp is the fact it can be hacked.

I think you underestimate the amount of people who will buy a psp just for homebrew which you have to admit is pretty amazing on the psp.

I foresee a boom in sales in PSP consoles and to a lesser extent ps3 consoles because of these guys. I also foresee a slight decline in game sales as the unfortunate by-product of piracy becomes easier. I say slight because no matter how easy it is there is always those who cannot and will not(refuse too) hack there console for fear of repercussions such as bans or bricked consoles. I definitely know more people who wont modify there consoles because of this reason, definitely more then I know that will.

I for one can't wait for homebrew, I'm looking forward to playing ps2 games on my slim and also greater media capabilities. It's going to be great!

Zapp Brannigan

I just want to run SNES emulators!

the_syco

EnterNow wrote: »

Sony have commented, saying that the recent exploits will be addressed in 'network updates'. Whether that means a structural update to PSN, or actual console updates via PSN remains to be seen.

Yup, I'm thinking Steam-type-hobbeh whereby you must be connected to the internet will feature in future games.

This will punish the law-abiding people, and drive more people to using cracked games.

Myrddin

the_syco wrote: »

Yup, I'm thinking Steam-type-hobbeh whereby you must be connected to the internet will feature in future games.

This will punish the law-abiding people, and drive more people to using cracked games.

I dunno, it basically means that in order to buy any future PS3 games, an internet connection is a requirement. If it's the case, as you said, it will only lead to further wrongs. It really would be a last ditched effort.

It's easy to say sure everyone has an internet connection these days, that may be true here...but can the same be said worldwide?

gizmo

Hmm EnterNow, I was under the impression it was another couple of months before Geohot began his attempts but evidently it was indeed the end of 2009 when he began. He didn't succeed for awhile later which is when Sony released the firmware which removed OtherOS for all. That does add credence to the idea that efforts were only started due to the arrival of the Slim alright. I stand corrected.

WhiskeyGoblin

This is good and bad, as many of you have said.
There is good in the way, we can now get more use out of our ps3, perhaps it's good that we can now add functions we like. I for one would be delighthed with a programme allowing my PHAT 40gb to run PS2 games.
Bad is obviously pirated crap. But sure pirating is all around us, it was bound to happen..(i have no intentions on pirating, im happy to support developers by buying games)

MarkY91

Limericks wrote: »

I lol'd

Good or bad? You decide. On the one hand people will use this to play homebrew games and applications and add functionality to the ps3 but this will be the minority which includes myself. The majority will ofcourse use this for playing backed up games and other bad stuff like that.

I know you could do the majority of all this anyway with the usb hack but not on new firmwares and not to the extent you can now with this new information available.

Keep your eyes peeled in the near future. I for one will be looking forward to playing ps2 games on my slim and playing mkv's

hmm u seem to know what our talking about and are set on what to do with this news, im cluess....homebrew games and application?.....sure changing mkv to something else doesnt even lose picture quality as far as ive seen, i may be wrong...hopefully ill see u here again teling us thats your up on all of this, i wana get into all of this stuff:)

aN.Droid

Well its begun, the first pirated game using this new information is freely available now. People can run Castlevania LOS on 3.55 now without having to purchase it. Didn't take them long. Good news is it's a very complicated process and not many people will be able to do it so piracy for now should be very low. The problems will come when the programs are released to streamline the process. We will see...

On the other hand Snes9x is available on 3.55 now aswell! Yippee!!

Read up on it all @ http://www.ps3hax.net/category/ps3-hacks/#axzz1AcaltPhg

MarkY91 wrote: »

hmm u seem to know what our talking about and are set on what to do with this news, im cluess....homebrew games and application?.....sure changing mkv to something else doesnt even lose picture quality as far as ive seen, i may be wrong...hopefully ill see u here again teling us thats your up on all of this, i wana get into all of this stuff:)

I only knows as much as I have read up on. If you want to learn more about it you can follow my link above or just google what you need to know. It's all freely available information

noodler

I want a N64 emulator.

Kiith

Snes9x alone makes me want to install this hack. I'd probably end up playing more snes games then PS3 games.

Essien

I wish I knew anything about all this hacking and homebrew stuff, I want a snes emulator!! May read up on it

eddhorse

I had Mario Allstars working on mine.
Controls worked very well no lag at all. Ive since gone back to the latest proper firmware. You can always use an emulator on your PC or laptop, hook that up to the TV and use an XBOX or PS3 controller via USB.

Providing you own the game already mind you :cool:

FruitLover

macpac26 wrote: »

Attention seeking clowns.

Can I just get you to confirm what I think you're saying here - you're angry at fail0verflow for exposing Sony's ****-up??

You seem to be confused over who's in the wrong here.

gizmo

FruitLover wrote: »

Can I just get you to confirm what I think you're saying here - you're angry at fail0verflow for exposing Sony's ****-up??

You seem to be confused over who's in the wrong here.

In fairness, they did plenty of work before they even reached the private key aspect of the platforms security. It's all explained quite well on the video they released so I'd recommend taking a look to see the chain of events which led them to the somewhat amusing discovery.