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GAMING NEWS

Hackers Strike Again, PlayStation 3 Piracy Made Easy

Posted on Tuesday, October 23 @ 12:56:26 Eastern by Alex_Osborn

It never ends for poor old Sony. The company has had its fair share of run-ins with hackers in the past, all of which didn't end very well—PSN outage anyone? Well, just when we all thought they were finally in the clear, a group known as "The Three Musketeers" has taken it upon itself to make things even more difficult for Sony.

The group allegedly discovered the LV0 decription keys (which makes hacking and thus piracy much easier), but opted out of releasing them to the public right away. During that time, however, the keys were leaked and a Chinese hacking group released "BlueDiskCFW" (a custom firmware) in hopes of making a sizeable profit. Naturally, this upset "The Three Musketeers" who then proceeded to release the LV0 keys publicly, and since that time a free CFW (custom firmware) that takes advantage of the keys has been released.

The team of hackers released the following announcement:

As this was a group effort, we wouldn’t normally have lost a word about it ever, but as we’re done with PS3 now anyways, we think it doesn’t matter anymore. Congratulations to the guy that leaked stuff, you, sir, are a 1337 haxx0r, jk, you’re an asshole.

People should know that crooked personalities are widespread in this so called ‘scene’. Some people try to achieve something for fun together and make the wrong decision to trust others and share their results with them, but ofc there got to be the attention seeking fame wh*** that has to leak stuff to feel a little bit better about him-/herself. Now the catch is that it works like this in every ‘scene’, just that in others it usually doesn’t come to light.The only sad thing is, that the others who worked on this won’t get the attention they deserve because they probably want to remain anonymous (also they don’t care about E-fame <3).

PS: This is neither about drama nor E-fame nor ‘OMG WE HAZ BEEN FIRST’, we just thought you should know that we’re disappointed in certain people. You can be sure that if it wouldn’t have been for this leak, this key would never have seen the light of day, only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now.

- The Three Musketeers

So what does this all mean? Basically, the PlayStation 3 now has a major hole in it that a simple firmware update won't be able to fix. As such, there's a good chance we'll see plenty more instances of piracy on the console. To clarify, it doesn't appear that the PlayStation Network has been compromised, but we can't say for sure one way or the other. We'll be sure to update you if/when Sony provides more information on the issue.

[Source]
Tags:   ps3, hacks, PSN, hot


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Comments
  • Kakulukia
    Kakulukia

    Joined: Nov 2005
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 1:07 pm
    I understood exactly nothing in that entire article.
  • tinymhg
    tinymhg

    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 1:41 pm
    I glad I'm not to be the only one.
  • LawnGnome
    LawnGnome

    Joined: Apr 2007
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 2:24 pm
    Basically, the foundation of the PS3's encryption has been broken. It would allow you to do whatever you want on the console (play burned games, install custom software, etc.) and is a massive security hole. I can't tell from the articles if this effects PSN as well, but Sony is probably scrambling to secure it or it's free DSL & credit card numbers for everyone! If it's not going to effect PSN, the security hole on the PS3 is the biggest concern. I don't see how they could plug it without releasing a new OS with different LV0 encryption. Fixing it through patches/updates is nearly impossible.
  • tinymhg
    tinymhg

    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 4:51 pm
    Cool. It's nice to know a Gnome that knows his stuff. Thanks LawnGnome.
  • Alex_Osborn
    Alex_Osborn

    Joined: Jan 2012
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 2:41 pm
    Not even the last two sentences? :(
  • UghRochester
    UghRochester

    Joined: Jun 2006
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 1:20 pm
    I love their name. So, they just did this to do this?
  • Lien
    Lien

    Joined: Feb 2008
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 2:38 pm
    One for all...

    I guess so. Most hackers i met in real life told me they do things like that not for profit but because it's a challenge. Like virtual daredevils.
  • shandog137
    shandog137

    Joined: Mar 2007
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 1:26 pm
    Can we take a step back to break down in people speak...Increased piracy with regard to personal info or just the ability to play more bootleg games and crack the console?
  • Alex_Osborn
    Alex_Osborn

    Joined: Jan 2012
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 2:42 pm
    So what does this all mean? Basically, the PlayStation 3 now has a major hole in it that a simple firmware update won't be able to fix. As such, there's a good chance we'll see plenty more instances of piracy on the console.
  • shandog137
    shandog137

    Joined: Mar 2007
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 3:21 pm
    I got your last two sentences but for the lay person I kinda wanted to know do I need to remove my personal info ->or is this just more of a hardware issue. LawnGnome kind of got at my question...is PSN effected or just hardware issues. PS2's have been cracked for years but never had credit card info on PSN so no big deal...just wasn't sure what type of piracy you were getting at. You can have a slice of cake but not alot
  • Alex_Osborn
    Alex_Osborn

    Joined: Jan 2012
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 3:26 pm
    How about pie? I could really go for a slice of pumpkin right now...
  • Jobin_Wendy
    Jobin_Wendy

    Joined: Mar 2012
    Posted: Oct 24th, 2012 at 1:37 pm
    Holy ****, it's October, which means pumpkin pie season! I know what I'm doing tonight... a pumpkin pie!
  • Jonathan_Leack
    Jonathan_Leack

    Joined: Jan 2012
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 1:45 pm
    It was only a matter of time before the flux capacitor was compromised.
  • shandog137
    shandog137

    Joined: Mar 2007
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 1:57 pm
    Now that makes sense...why the hell didn't Alex just say they found the PS3 flux capacitor and now sony is screwed because of hackers are traveling back and forth through time at approximately 85 mph...Silly Alex, no cake for you!
  • slothrock
    slothrock

    Joined: Oct 2012
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 2:28 pm
    Dont worry, Marty Mcfly will save us.
  • ballabert
    ballabert

    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 3:05 pm
    So on a level of 1-10 how scared should I be? 1 being not very and 10 being "Holy S*** change your account numbers!!!"
  • Alex_Osborn
    Alex_Osborn

    Joined: Jan 2012
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 3:20 pm
    From what I can gather, this will make pirating games for the platform easier. I don't believe the PlayStation Network itself has been hacked
  • shandog137
    shandog137

    Joined: Mar 2007
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 3:38 pm
    Thank you Sir. Pie is served!
  • ballabert
    ballabert

    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 3:40 pm
    Much obliged, I'll remain at a healthy 4.5 scared level
  • cereal13killer
    cereal13killer

    Joined: Nov 2008
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 3:07 pm
    It's like in Star Trek: Generations where the Klingon bird of prey got the enterprise's shield frequencies, and could fire right through them as a result...
  • ballabert
    ballabert

    Joined: Jul 2011
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 3:39 pm
    now it all makes sense! :p
  • elmoreoocyte
    elmoreoocyte

    Joined: Apr 2012
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 5:23 pm
    You just cranked nerd to 11.
  • tinymhg
    tinymhg

    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 7:26 pm
    And what's wrong with that?
  • elmoreoocyte
    elmoreoocyte

    Joined: Apr 2012
    Posted: Oct 24th, 2012 at 2:29 pm
    Wasn't saying there was.
  • Bras
    Bras

    Joined: Jul 2008
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 6:48 pm
    Does this mean I can play pirate videogames and no one at Sony will know? =)

    PS: I stand ready for the thumb-downs.
  • ShadeTail
    ShadeTail

    Joined: Nov 2006
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 7:21 pm
    Probably. For what it's worth, though, if you just play backups of games you own, that wouldn't be piracy. As long as you aren't downloading or distributing digital copies, you are legally in the clear.
  • TheJx4
    TheJx4

    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 7:45 pm
    I really just want to be able to play PS2 games and not have to buy another PS3, or replacement hardware from last-gen.
  • ShadeTail
    ShadeTail

    Joined: Nov 2006
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 8:02 pm
    I don't think it's very likely, but perhaps some enterprising coder will use this to make an emulator.
  • Sourdeez
    Sourdeez

    Joined: Feb 2012
    Posted: Oct 23rd, 2012 at 8:06 pm
    Yeah sadly the consoles have dropped the ball on most reverse compatibility if you ask me. PC users can run emulators but to be honest there is something nice about people just being able to pop in a disc and it working without setup.
  • TheJx4
    TheJx4

    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Oct 24th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
    Well see, Sony got rid of it so they could sell "PS2 Classics" and HD remakes on PSN. I'll never buy those, so they aren't getting my money either way, lol
  • whytenoiz
    whytenoiz

    Joined: Feb 2011
    Posted: Oct 24th, 2012 at 5:02 am
    Oh great. Time to premptively delete my PSN stuff again...
  • cheesegod99
    cheesegod99

    Joined: Jun 2007
    Posted: Oct 24th, 2012 at 5:19 am
    Well, the only conceivable way I can see this affecting me is people somehow cheating in online games. Which I almost never play. Criminals stealing intellectual property will not alter my game playing at all.
  • sandineyes
    sandineyes

    Joined: May 2008
    Posted: Oct 24th, 2012 at 8:01 am
    Can we stop equating these "hackers" with the "hackers" that compromised PSN's network security? It isn't like someone using custom firmware on a PS3 in order to open up the platform is going to magically end up with your credit card information.
  • ShadeTail
    ShadeTail

    Joined: Nov 2006
    Posted: Oct 24th, 2012 at 12:44 pm
    You have a point, but it's still a fair comparison. Either way, you had a team of people compromise Sony's electronic security. The main difference is that being able to load custom firmware and play pirated games is (arguably) stealing from the businesses, rather than from the customers.
  • Sourdeez
    Sourdeez

    Joined: Feb 2012
    Posted: Oct 24th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
    What! civility in the comments section. GR can't have any of that!

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