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George “GeoHot” Hotz, the hacker who was part of the team responsible for the iPhone jailbreak, has discovered and released online the PlayStation 3 root key.
The root key has the final say on which code can and cannot be run on a PS3, meaning the system is now completely open to homebrew developers and, more worryingly, piracy.
The console was originally jailbroken last year following the leak of a USB key apparently used by Sony engineers, essentially converting retail systems into debug units capable of running unsigned code. However Sony was able to re-secure its console with a series of firmware updates.
That is no longer an option. Sony could release a new, encrypted root key but hackers claim this would only result in the PS3’s existing game library no longer being recognised as legitimate code and not running.
The console could be manufactured with new, secure keys, and a whitelist of existing software could ensure existing games would be recognised by new security architecture, but both measures would be costly and such expense would be unwelcome just six months after the PS3 began to turn a profit.
The release of the root key is merely the latest in a series of breakthroughs made by hackers seeking to gain full access to the PS3 hardware. On December 30 fail0verflow, the group behind the Wii’s Homebrew Channel, announced that they had discovered the private keys that were used to sign authorised PS3 code, meaning any software could in theory be run on the system without the need for jailbreak or custom firmware. Now hackers also claim to have decrypted the Blu-Ray and PSP keys which are also stored in the PS3.
While the various hackers are all keen to distance themselves from piracy – fail0verflow claims its work was solely designed as punishment for Sony’s removal of OtherOS in a firmware update after GeoHot’s original PS3 jailbreak last year – the primary consequence of the console being hacked wide open is sure to be lost game sales.
Hotz himself accompanied the release of the root key with an invitation to Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo – all of whose current-gen systems have now been hacked to some degree – to give him a job. “If you want your next console to be secure, get in touch with me, any of you three,” he said. “It’d be fun to be on the other side.”
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The root key has the final say on which code can and cannot be run on a PS3, meaning the system is now completely open to homebrew developers and, more worryingly, piracy.
The console was originally jailbroken last year following the leak of a USB key apparently used by Sony engineers, essentially converting retail systems into debug units capable of running unsigned code. However Sony was able to re-secure its console with a series of firmware updates.
That is no longer an option. Sony could release a new, encrypted root key but hackers claim this would only result in the PS3’s existing game library no longer being recognised as legitimate code and not running.
The console could be manufactured with new, secure keys, and a whitelist of existing software could ensure existing games would be recognised by new security architecture, but both measures would be costly and such expense would be unwelcome just six months after the PS3 began to turn a profit.
The release of the root key is merely the latest in a series of breakthroughs made by hackers seeking to gain full access to the PS3 hardware. On December 30 fail0verflow, the group behind the Wii’s Homebrew Channel, announced that they had discovered the private keys that were used to sign authorised PS3 code, meaning any software could in theory be run on the system without the need for jailbreak or custom firmware. Now hackers also claim to have decrypted the Blu-Ray and PSP keys which are also stored in the PS3.
While the various hackers are all keen to distance themselves from piracy – fail0verflow claims its work was solely designed as punishment for Sony’s removal of OtherOS in a firmware update after GeoHot’s original PS3 jailbreak last year – the primary consequence of the console being hacked wide open is sure to be lost game sales.
Hotz himself accompanied the release of the root key with an invitation to Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo – all of whose current-gen systems have now been hacked to some degree – to give him a job. “If you want your next console to be secure, get in touch with me, any of you three,” he said. “It’d be fun to be on the other side.”
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