Hacker Claims to Have the PS3's "Root Key," Posts it Online

 

 

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Hacker Claims to Have the PS3's "Root Key," Posts it Online

via 1UP RSS feed by Kris Pigna on 1/3/11

George "GeoHot" Hotz, the 21-year-old hacker best known for being part of the a team that unlocked the iPhone, now claims to have uncovered the "root key" to the PlayStation 3. And he posted it online.

The root key is essentially the fail-safe in the PS3 that authorizes any program attempting to run on it as either legitimate or illegitimate -- so in other words, it's what stops someone from being able to play pirated games on the console, but also from installing Linux on it (after the OtherOS option was removed with firmware 3.21) and running any Homebrew programs as well. With the root key now available, though, the implication is that other hackers and modders can now bypass it entirely, and the sky's the limit.

What's more, it also appears -- although Sony hasn't confirmed this yet -- that this root key cannot be updated or changed in any way without risking making tons of legitimate PS3 software inoperable. So if it has indeed been cracked, there may not be anything Sony can do about it.

 

 

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