Hackers may have cracked PS3
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vagrant-718
Members Posts: 4,569 ✭✭✭✭✭
Rumours are swirling this morning that the PlayStation 3's security has finally been breached and "backup" software now runs on the Sony platform.
A company of unknown origin has created what it calls the PSJailbreak - a combination of software and USB dongle that seemingly allows all makes and model of retail PlayStation 3 to copy and run any kind of game code, even with the latest firmware updates in place.
While it remains to be seen whether it is another in a long line of elaborate fakes, it's understood that multiple modchip resellers were sent anonymous packages from Hong Kong, and one of the recipients - Australia-based OzModChips - has posted two convincing-looking videos on YouTube showing the system in action.
Based on OzModChips' YouTube offerings, the dongle itself appears to be activated when the system is booted by holding down the power followed by the eject button. This might suggest that the USB dongle is an adapted form of debug equipment used by Sony itself in testing production and refurbished PS3s, and several consoles locked into "factory mode" have escaped into the wild before now.
If true, this is a crushing blow for Sony, especially as potential pirates won't even need to buy a Blu-ray burner to acquire copied games: the hack works by streaming game data either from the internal HDD or alternatively via USB flash drives or hard disks.
But is it the real deal? Hacker websites are saying it is, while the publicly available game-dumping tool from the "Jailbreak" site installs without the USB dongle on debug PS3s, and does indeed rip retail games, although they do not boot. There have been many fakes in the past - PSJailbreak looks disturbingly authentic.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-hackers-may-have-broken-ps3-security
A company of unknown origin has created what it calls the PSJailbreak - a combination of software and USB dongle that seemingly allows all makes and model of retail PlayStation 3 to copy and run any kind of game code, even with the latest firmware updates in place.
While it remains to be seen whether it is another in a long line of elaborate fakes, it's understood that multiple modchip resellers were sent anonymous packages from Hong Kong, and one of the recipients - Australia-based OzModChips - has posted two convincing-looking videos on YouTube showing the system in action.
Based on OzModChips' YouTube offerings, the dongle itself appears to be activated when the system is booted by holding down the power followed by the eject button. This might suggest that the USB dongle is an adapted form of debug equipment used by Sony itself in testing production and refurbished PS3s, and several consoles locked into "factory mode" have escaped into the wild before now.
If true, this is a crushing blow for Sony, especially as potential pirates won't even need to buy a Blu-ray burner to acquire copied games: the hack works by streaming game data either from the internal HDD or alternatively via USB flash drives or hard disks.
But is it the real deal? Hacker websites are saying it is, while the publicly available game-dumping tool from the "Jailbreak" site installs without the USB dongle on debug PS3s, and does indeed rip retail games, although they do not boot. There have been many fakes in the past - PSJailbreak looks disturbingly authentic.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-hackers-may-have-broken-ps3-security
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jOEbZEkp9AComments
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Knew it was only a matter of time
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More info on Jailbreak:
PS Jailbreak is a USB plug and play solution that installs in seconds, keeping your valid warranty seal in tact.
Easy to use installer and GUI takes you step by step.
Compatible with all production models FAT and SLIM. Supports all regions: USA, ? , PAL and KOREA
PS Jailbreak disables forced software updates and will never brick your console.
Supports all games (it does not allow backups of bluray movies , dvd movies , or past consoles games)
Backup games to your internal hard drive or external hard drive through USB, and boot directly off GUI. Eliminating the need for expensive blueray burners and costly blank media.
Play backups off your hard drives 2x as fast as off the blueray drive. This eliminates lags and glitches to provide you with smoother game play.
Open up your console to a new generation of homebrew applications. Load homebrew apps/games off any USB hard drive/flash drive.
Fully updatable with new features/updates by connecting PS Jailbreak to any computers USB port. -
dayum i may hook my PS up and play that ? if i can get free games.
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vagrant-718 wrote: »More info on Jailbreak:
PS Jailbreak is a USB plug and play solution that installs in seconds, keeping your valid warranty seal in tact.
Easy to use installer and GUI takes you step by step.
Compatible with all production models FAT and SLIM. Supports all regions: USA, ? , PAL and KOREA
PS Jailbreak disables forced software updates and will never brick your console.
Supports all games (it does not allow backups of bluray movies , dvd movies , or past consoles games)
Backup games to your internal hard drive or external hard drive through USB, and boot directly off GUI. Eliminating the need for expensive blueray burners and costly blank media.
Play backups off your hard drives 2x as fast as off the blueray drive. This eliminates lags and glitches to provide you with smoother game play.
Open up your console to a new generation of homebrew applications. Load homebrew apps/games off any USB hard drive/flash drive.
Fully updatable with new features/updates by connecting PS Jailbreak to any computers USB port.
Hmmmmmmmmm -
im curious as if this would somehow disable trophies
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either he's gonna be hired by sony.....or killed by them
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Next firmware update will ? this hack lol
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bcotton2000@yahoo.com wrote: »Next firmware update will ? this hack lol
PS Jailbreak disables forced software updates and will never brick your console.
Wow.
I'll keep buying games though lol I ain't trying to play around with my classy billion dollar system -
PS Jailbreak disables forced software updates and will never brick your console.
Wow.
I'll keep buying games though lol I ain't trying to play around with my classy billion dollar system
Theres ways around that, most games dont even let you play online unless you on the latest firmware update -
bcotton2000@yahoo.com wrote: »Theres ways around that, most games dont even let you play online unless you on the latest firmware update
Thats what I was thinking too. You might only be able to play offline -
so.........
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bcotton2000@yahoo.com wrote: »Theres ways around that, most games dont even let you play online unless you on the latest firmware update
True that, i'm sure sony already heard about this and on their job -
As BCotton said, if you can't play online, then this thing is pretty much pointless. Gamers look for the online experience more than anything out there. It's pretty much pointless for offline only.
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Interesting....
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The user and all related content has been deleted.
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If this is true.....there will be no reason for me to buy a 360.....I will still buy games though......I thought the elimination of linux was supposed to prevent this?
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nah, ill still buy games. and wouldnt i need a blu ray burner to play copies, which I dont have?
But if could get a few emulators on this thing..... -
earth two superman wrote: »nah, ill still buy games. and wouldnt i need a blu ray burner to play copies, which I dont have?
But if could get a few emulators on this thing.....
Nah it runs games off of a harddrive so would download the ISO/disc images to a harddrive then run it on the PS3 -
bcotton2000@yahoo.com wrote: »Nah it runs games off of a harddrive so would download the ISO/disc images to a harddrive then run it on the PS3
ah, so it would be like joshua has his blu rays, on a big drive.
like i said, ill probably still buy games. but an emulator would be very cool. -
The user and all related content has been deleted.
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actually now that i think about it.... I don't give ? bout nothin until they unlock PS2 abilities... I know it's in their!!!
? I been wanting to play Final Fantasy 10 for the longest. -
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Looking forward to playing NES and SNES games on a system that doesn't overcharge for them... -
It's real. Almost four years after its launch, the PlayStation 3's much vaunted security has finally been completely and unequivocally compromised. Within weeks, if not days, PS3 users willing to pay an exorbitant premium have the option of copying all the games they own - and any they don't - onto hard disk, and nothing stops them from spreading them across the internet. The question is, how can Sony fight back? Can new firmware updates keep the platform holder one step ahead of the hackers?
As sample "PSJailbreak" hardware circulates around shops and modship suppliers around the world, further details emerge, giving us some idea of how the system works. From that we can extrapolate the scale of the task facing Sony as it embarks on what must surely be the biggest damage limitation exercise in its recent history.
This attack on PlayStation security consists of both software and hardware. A USB dongle is attached to the PS3, and pressing the eject button on the console while it cold-boots causes the code on the stick to override the console's typical launch procedure. Based on views of the XMB seen in the now numerous YouTube videos, the dongle appears to inject elements from debug PS3 firmware onto the retail unit. The option to install PKG files, available only on development and test units, now works on the retail machine. From here, the main tool to "backing up" software is added to the machine.
While you may not have heard of a PKG file before, the chances are that you've installed plenty of them on your PS3. Just about every kind of program you download from PSN is in the PKG container. Once downloaded, the PS3 decompresses the data and installs it onto your PS3. On development and test/reviewer units, so-called "unsigned code" is routinely distributed on disc, via download or on USB flash drives in PKG format. The only difference between this and a regular PSN download is that the code is not encrypted, allowing for easier distribution of unfinished or review copy games (only Sony's mastering labs can encrypt, or "sign" code).
The fact that the Install PKG option now appears on a retail unit gives us a strong indication as to how the new "Jailbreak" works as it's almost certainly not present in the regular firmware. It suggests that elements of the bespoke system updates used on the debug PS3s are being injected into the memory of the retail unit. But how?
There are two potential explanations here. First of all, whoever is behind this is extremely clever and has isolated an exploit that allows for the injection of code over the USB port. More likely is that the USB-based tools Sony uses to test and recover PS3s with corrupt firmware have been leaked and reverse-engineered for more nefarious ends. PlayStation 3s locked into "factory service mode" have been popping up every now and again for years, and the PC-side software that runs the USB dongle was leaked a while ago.
Now it would appear that the hardware has also been "liberated" from Sony's repair and test labs. This may sound somewhat implausible, but in a world where PS3 Slim photos circulate months before the launch and final units appear in a Philippines marketplace, anything is possible. Besides, the exact same thing happened with the tools used to service the PSP just prior to the PSP-2000 launch in September 2007.
In terms of the make-up of the dongle itself, pictures posted online of the internals show a basic USB device - what looks like an innocuous 48-pin microcontroller chip on the tiny PCB and not much else. It's quite astonishing to believe that the makers are asking for a colossal $130+ for such a tiny piece of tech, and it's almost certain to be reverse-engineered, ripped off and duplicated by the Chinese mass-suppliers within days of hitting the market.
The software side of PSJailbreak is publicly available to download, installs onto a debug PS3 and throws up few surprises. It's an extremely basic tool that rips off every single file on a game disc onto the internal HDD or else onto a USB flash drive or hard disk. It does appear that some of the encryption Sony uses on the files is stripped away (hashes on encrypted files change drastically), but the executable still won't work without the USB dongle in place. When selecting a game to run, the machine drops back to the XMB. From here on out, we can only speculate but it's reasonable to assume that the chip then diverts all major disc functions to the device where the game-rip lies.
As a vehicle for piracy then, all bases are covered, but is this really a "jailbreak" in the form recently sanctioned by the US courts? The mere existence of the backup manager - supposedly coded with tools stolen from Sony - would suggest otherwise, and if the USB dongle is indeed cloned from the platform holder's own recovery tools, any pretence of legality is surely a joke.
The presence of the PKG installation option does indeed mean that the likes of emulators and media players could be ported and installed on to the PS3. However, for now it's almost certainly the case that Sony's own dev tools would be needed to make any kind of useful application, adding to the legality quagmire.
All told, it's a nightmare scenario for Sony - but you can be fairly sure that its response will be swift. We can fully expect a mandatory firmware update to emerge from its engineering labs within days of the firm dissecting the hack, doubtless rendering it useless. Damage limitation will be the key, and similar to the OtherOS removal that Geohot's exploit brought about, Sony will be looking to minimise the physical amount of consoles available capable of running the hack by effectively upgrading them out of contention.
Assuming the memory patch theory is true, the swiftness of the response shouldn't be an issue for Sony's engineers. Changing the make-up of the modules affected would be child's play for the platform holder and it would almost certainly necessitate a much higher effort on the part of the hackers to reverse-engineer the new code and re-patch it. Additionally, over the longer term, there is nothing to stop Sony from introducing brand new forms of encryption and execution on the way that future games boot.
However, the properties of the USB dongle itself may well be more difficult to defend against. Assuming that the device itself is derived from Sony's own servicing tools, it may well require a complete, brand new revision of motherboard to successfully defeat. The whole purpose of the dongle is to restore corrupt firmware - the chances are that it has to operate on a hardware level that cannot be touched by the updater. We've seen it before on Sony kit - the so-called "Pandora" battery for PSP that flips it into service mode operates on the same principle, and was only defeated by the platform holder when it revised the handheld's motherboard. Nothing could be done to protect the existing devices.
Unless Sony is capable of rewriting the most basic low-level code on the PS3's BIOS, there's little it can do to defeat the USB vector of attack - it's all about preventing the injected code from working. Going forward we can expect the usual cat and mouse game between hackers and platform holder to unfold, and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that in the future, Sony will be able to detect users of the device and rightfully ban them from accessing PSN, similar to the measures Microsoft continues to undertake annually against gamers who flash their DVD drives to run copied software.
The complexity of Sony's security systems suggests that it will be able to keep one step ahead, but there is nothing to stop people using the hack to prevent firmware upgrades from taking place. Indeed, the chip itself is said to protect the console from executing system updates. This of course precludes PSN access, and in the fullness of time this approach will stop newer PS3 games from running as they will be reliant on software elements found only in the newer firmware.
Bearing in mind that PSJailbreak is retailing for upwards of $130, there's a very strong possibility that this may well be the most expensive and short-lived hack ever made, and factoring in the simplicity of the hardware, the very high price seems almost reminiscent of a smash-and-grab raid on users intent on piracy no matter what the cost. The makers of PSJailbreak are charging so high a price because the window of opportunity in terms of exclusivity and the longevity of the hack itself is potentially very small.
That said, the exact properties of the USB stick and how how future-proof it is remain unknown. With mass-production of PSJailbreak now in motion, and the first retail devices apparently set to ship before the month is up, Sony's engineers are doubtless gearing up for the battle to come.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-vs-psjailbreak-article -
Yea ? that ? , $130 and its not guaranteed to work in the long run? Uh uh. Sony is smart by making sure that new game patches have to correspond with the latest firmware, I mean all the need to do is add a minor patch to their most popular titles making it mandatory to play single player or whatever. Nowadays, online is everything and single player is coming under attack so this is a solution for the most broke ass gamers.
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Yea ? that ? , $130 and its not guaranteed to work in the long run? Uh uh. Sony is smart by making sure that new game patches have to correspond with the latest firmware, I mean all the need to do is add a minor patch to their most popular titles making it mandatory to play single player or whatever. Nowadays, online is everything and single player is coming under attack so this is a solution for the most broke ass gamers.
well it will always work if you never upgrade your firmware.
so $130 to play any game offline. Id def recommend to gamers who arent into multiplayer
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