PlayStation 'master key' leaked online

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20067289

A hacker group released it after it seems like someone else was going to try to make money off it like with the jailbreak usb last time and they say this was can bypass future updates it.

I'd have to say that this is a good thing. If Sony insists on removing features that PS3 owners paid for, then I see no reason why hackers shouldn't take it right back. The only problem is that a lot of these exploits have some nasty collateral damage such as opening the way for piracy, online cheating, etc. I would hate to see PSN users being harmed as a result of this.

But hey, getting PCSX2 installed onto a hacked PS3 would feel like justice.

Sony just can't seem to get a break from all this hacking. Seriously, they found the master key?! I may have to make use of this. I would love to be able to hack my PS3 and play PS2 games on it.

@QuistisTrepe: How would you think PSN users would be harmed by this?

@xyzygy: IIRC, if this is a master key, the same used for running only digitally signed software and for PSN authentication, then someone could potentially be able to write new "signed" software to work within custom firmwares that could be used for cheats and other exploits in online gaming.

If this is the Master Key that you speak of, then we could get into the last room of the Dungeon, and kill the boss.

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

@SomeJerk: That. Well...it is near the end of the PS3 cycle so maybe wont be "too" bad. But still sucks on a whole. As Sony has been hurt by this crap before. Only reason they did not fold was cause they had more money. Unlike Sega...

I swear some dude found this "master key" ages ago - I remember there being some news about it then inside the video game industry - but he said he'd never release it cause he didn't advocate piracy. Sucks that someone got hold of it then.

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

Hey! Fuck Sony, they removed that Folding at home thingie I once used that one time. I should totally get some free pirated games in compensation.

Im hoping that all the piracy stuff opens up around the time PS4 comes out so that people can go back to PS3 games in later years, in a similar fashion to playing SNES games on your PC, so that these games are always available. Apart from the HD Collections it cant harm sales if it happens when PS4 is out.

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

This.

@Gonmog said:

@SomeJerk: That. Well...it is near the end of the PS3 cycle so maybe wont be "too" bad. But still sucks on a whole. As Sony has been hurt by this crap before. Only reason they did not fold was cause they had more money. Unlike Sega...

Piracy never killed any product, 360 games have been pirated since the launch of the console (it's worse than PC piracy there) and yet it sells like crazy.

Didn't GeoHotz already do this? What's the difference between his exploit and this one?

Note that in the immediate future, this only makes it easier for custom firmware producers to update their releases to run newer games and get onto PSN, it does not affect PS3s with official firmware (other than CFW players using hacks and cheats online I guess). Long term though, it will probably make it easier for hackers to find vulnerabilities in the official firmware and make up to date PS3s crackable again. Hopefully the PS4 is out by then.

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

Um, except no one advocated this.

@jayjonesjunior said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

This.

@Gonmog said:

@SomeJerk: That. Well...it is near the end of the PS3 cycle so maybe wont be "too" bad. But still sucks on a whole. As Sony has been hurt by this crap before. Only reason they did not fold was cause they had more money. Unlike Sega...

Piracy never killed any product, 360 games have been pirated since the launch of the console (it's worse than PC piracy there) and yet it sells like crazy.

Your wrong, Piracy killed the East India Company.

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

@QuistisTrepe said:

I'd have to say that this is a good thing. If Sony insists on removing features that PS3 owners paid for, then I see no reason why hackers shouldn't take it right back. The only problem is that a lot of these exploits have some nasty collateral damage such as opening the way for piracy, online cheating, etc. I would hate to see PSN users being harmed as a result of this.

But hey, getting PCSX2 installed onto a hacked PS3 would feel like justice.

There's no chance of getting PCSX2 working properly though, not at a good framerate.

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

@ajamafalous said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

I'm not trying to justify anything, but I can understand someone being upset if a feature they bought an item for was removed, whether they're part of only 1% of people who use it or not.

Number of PSN users = 90 million

1% of 90,000,000 = 900,000

900 thousand people used that feature.

I demand free games from Sony in compensation. I'll take Ratchet and Clank, Mass Effect 3, and all the PS3 elder scrolls games with horse armor fully unlocked.

This doesn't automatically mean pirated games guys....

Always bet on pirates.

Good. The more open consoles become, the better.

@jayjonesjunior said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

This.

@Gonmog said:

@SomeJerk: That. Well...it is near the end of the PS3 cycle so maybe wont be "too" bad. But still sucks on a whole. As Sony has been hurt by this crap before. Only reason they did not fold was cause they had more money. Unlike Sega...

Piracy never killed any product, 360 games have been pirated since the launch of the console (it's worse than PC piracy there) and yet it sells like crazy.

Your wrong, Piracy killed the East India Company.

@Gonmog said:

@SomeJerk: That. Well...it is near the end of the PS3 cycle so maybe wont be "too" bad.

Actually, it's only about half way into its cycle. History shows that Sony will support the PS3 well after the PS4 release.

@QuistisTrepe said:

@xyzygy: IIRC, if this is a master key, the same used for running only digitally signed software and for PSN authentication, then someone could potentially be able to write new "signed" software to work within custom firmwares that could be used for cheats and other exploits in online gaming.

This happened some time ago when Geohot released the keys, and there is still some security in PSN that can check your PS3 and boot you off PSN if you are using hacks. So unless this is somehow different, i assume you can play your games online without running into people using this exploit.

@Tim_the_Corsair said:

@Dagbiker

@jayjonesjunior said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

This.

@Gonmog said:

@SomeJerk: That. Well...it is near the end of the PS3 cycle so maybe wont be "too" bad. But still sucks on a whole. As Sony has been hurt by this crap before. Only reason they did not fold was cause they had more money. Unlike Sega...

Piracy never killed any product, 360 games have been pirated since the launch of the console (it's worse than PC piracy there) and yet it sells like crazy.

Your wrong, Piracy killed the East India Company.

I could kiss you

Actually they were nationalized/dissolved by the British Gov't, so really big government intervention is to blame! Goddam socialists. But it's harder to make an action movie starring roguish bureaucrats who wear mascara, I suppose.

@Dagbiker said:

@ajamafalous said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

I'm not trying to justify anything, but I can understand someone being upset if a feature they bought an item for was removed, whether they're part of only 1% of people who use it or not.

Number of PSN users = 90 million

1% of 90,000,000 = 900,000

900 thousand people used that feature.

And how many of them were using it as a back door into piracy? Its all cyclical.

@kpaadet said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

Hey! Fuck Sony, they removed that Folding at home thingie I once used that one time. I should totally get some free pirated games in compensation.

oh yeah that thing.

and they also forced a netflix icon on my ps3 even though the service is not on in my country, and they forced me to download 26mb just to enter the psn store.

I demand that all games on the ps3 from launch and till the end be free, as a compensation.

@Dagbiker said:

@ajamafalous said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

I'm not trying to justify anything, but I can understand someone being upset if a feature they bought an item for was removed, whether they're part of only 1% of people who use it or not.

Number of PSN users = 90 million

1% of 90,000,000 = 900,000

900 thousand people used that feature.

its still less then 1% and an estimated guess and i think if they really used that option they properly should rather buy a ps2/ps1 console then hack the shit out of it, being that its you know eligal.

also not saying your numbers are wrong but where did you get it from, account made?

first of the account has to be activated online for them to track it. and i have 3, 1 for europe (the region i live in) and 1 from the us and asia (for when i import games and have to activate codes since the codes arent region free)

or console sales, i own 2 right now and have had 4 total.

or did you just pull that number out of thin air like the 1%

not trying to be a dick just asking

@Dagbiker said:

@ajamafalous said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

I'm not trying to justify anything, but I can understand someone being upset if a feature they bought an item for was removed, whether they're part of only 1% of people who use it or not.

Number of PSN users = 90 million

1% of 90,000,000 = 900,000

900 thousand people used that feature.

I'm going to guess that significantly fewer than 1% ever installed Linux on their PS3s.

Didn't this happen a while ago?

@frankfartmouth said:

Didn't GeoHotz already do this? What's the difference between his exploit and this one?

Sony could just update the firmware before. It seems like this has ways to get around that, but Sony says it's not that different.

This seems like the whole article condensed:

"The reveal of the LVO key basically means that any system update released by Sony going forward can be decrypted with little or no effort whatsoever."

Source close to the firm say they are not convinced that the latest hack is any more serious that past ones. An official statement from the console maker is due shortly.

@GS_Dan said:

@Dagbiker said:

@ajamafalous said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

I'm not trying to justify anything, but I can understand someone being upset if a feature they bought an item for was removed, whether they're part of only 1% of people who use it or not.

Number of PSN users = 90 million

1% of 90,000,000 = 900,000

900 thousand people used that feature.

I'm going to guess that significantly fewer than 1% ever installed Linux on their PS3s.

Especially since (and I'm not 100% sure) the second sku of 20GB PS3's that came out that didn't support PS2 backwards compatibility also had no support for Linux. I remember trying, but not being able to find a way to install Other OS. This was like right when they released it.

@kpaadet said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

Hey! Fuck Sony, they removed that Folding at home thingie I once used that one time. I should totally get some free pirated games in compensation.

oh yeah that thing.

and they also forced a netflix icon on my ps3 even though the service is not on in my country, and they forced me to download 26mb just to enter the psn store.

I demand that all games on the ps3 from launch and till the end be free, as a compensation.

   

Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Sony will probably lock it down again in a future patch. I've grown out of the piracy of my adolescence mostly due to having money now (even if it's not a lot). Personally I find the Homebrew applications way more interesting than the piracy possibilities.

@Dagbiker said:

@jayjonesjunior said:

@SomeJerk said:

"Fuck Sony for removing a feature that less than 1% of the users ever activated, let's pirate all their shit"

This.

@Gonmog said:

@SomeJerk: That. Well...it is near the end of the PS3 cycle so maybe wont be "too" bad. But still sucks on a whole. As Sony has been hurt by this crap before. Only reason they did not fold was cause they had more money. Unlike Sega...

Piracy never killed any product, 360 games have been pirated since the launch of the console (it's worse than PC piracy there) and yet it sells like crazy.

Your wrong, Piracy killed the East India Company.

And video killed the radio star. So I guess Video Game Pirates are the worst kind.

I'm looking at you, Guybrush Threepwood!

@Levio said:

I demand free games from Sony in compensation. I'll take Ratchet and Clank, Mass Effect 3, and all the PS3 elder scrolls games with horse armor fully unlocked.

As opposed to partially unlocked? :3

@Dagbiker: I'm pretty sure that number has been said to not be unique users, just accounts every made. Hell, I have at least two accounts because I know I lost access to at least one at some point. So no, 900,000 people do not use that feature, and there are not 90 million unique and active PSN users.

@Pazy said:

Im hoping that all the piracy stuff opens up around the time PS4 comes out so that people can go back to PS3 games in later years, in a similar fashion to playing SNES games on your PC, so that these games are always available. Apart from the HD Collections it cant harm sales if it happens when PS4 is out.

The PS2 is still one of the strongest platforms after all of the current gen platforms. In fact I believe both of the current gen handhelds are weak by comparison to the PS2. So no, the PS4 is not the time to make that stuff available to the public. SNES stuff is decades old and impossible to get without jumping through a million holes and there is literally no way to purchase those games in a way that will benefit the original team unless someone on the original team is selling a copy directly to you.

@frankfartmouth said:

Didn't GeoHotz already do this? What's the difference between his exploit and this one?

I believe the idea is that this will continue to work, where as the GeoHotz thing breaks if you connect to the internet with your console.