Hackers have broken into the defenses of Sony's PlayStation 3 software security. The hackers released a custom firmware that would allow people to play pirated games on the PS3 console.
A hacking group called "The Three Musketeers" was behind the break-in. The group released the secret set of LV0 codes online. These codes can decrypt any security updates that Sony makes, assimilating them into the custom-made firmware. Using a custom firmware, a PS3 owner can run pirated games.
"This means that all future firmwares and all future games are decryptable, and this time around they [Sony] really can't do anything about it... all future firmwares can be decrypted and patched and resigned for old PS3s," Marcan, one of the players of fail0verflow exploit, wrote in a related Slashdot thread.
The Three Musketeers released the software for public use in retaliation to BlueDiskCFW, who planned to release the custom firmware for a fee. The group did not like anyone trying to make a profit out of their work.
The hackers said to PlayStation Lifestyle "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."
"Some people try to achieve something for fun together and make the wrong decision to trust others and share their results with them, but of course there [has] got to be the attention-seeking fame-whore that has to leak stuff to feel a little bit better about him/herself. 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.
"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."
Earlier in 2011, Sony released a major firmware update 3.60 that plugged many loopholes.
"Even if Sony were to update the system with new firmware, the latest release of the LV0 decryption keys would make it easy for hackers to lay bare future security measures in system updates," ZDNet reported.