Speculation About PSN Outage Turns to Custom Firmware

[oldtaku]

So IF it's true, Sony has kept us all offline for a week now (and counting) to protect their own profits from a few pirates.

I say few because the number of people who've bothered to hack their PS3 is near zero compared to the 50M installed units.

IF true this isn't an intrusion, just some very minor piracy (in the scheme of things) which MS more than tolerates on Xbox 360 - and PC people would just bust out laughing at how goddamn tiny it is. And they've f@#$ed you out of Portal 2 just for that.

We'll see: this is getting pretty epic.

 

[El_Ganso]

You mean to tell me that the hundreds of thousands of dollars Sony spent to sue GeoHotz would have been better spent on designing a Network infrastructure that was more robust?

I don't think the pirates are actually directly responsible for the Network being down, the percentage of people that would actually take the time to install a custom firmware to make the PS3 a dev box must be very small.

I think it's more likely that Sony caught wind of pirates accessing free content and realizing credit card info was vulnerable and pulled the plug before a massive leak occurred, which just makes apparent that PSN was badly designed in the first place. Why hasn't Microsoft suffered something similar? I mean piracy has been rampant on the XBox for a much longer time, yet their network hasn't suffered an outage this big. Why hasn't this happen to Steam? I mean PC is the chosen playground of hackers and pirates, yet you don't see Valve scrambling like a chicken without a head because they may have vulnerable credit info.

But yea Sony, keep spending all those dollars to protect your IP (imaginary property) and hire monkeys to do the software engineering.

 

[B_Diddy_M]

So Sony is pointing the fingers at hackers and some people still think it is Anon that did this.. everyone is ignoring the real threat here.

This occurred roughly 1 week ago. Whatever caused this would have needed to have the power to completely infiltrate the PSN without anyone noticing. This also must have been something brand new to the system because Sony never accounted for it. So we're looking at something brand new that happened to Sony roughly one week ago.. your answer?

GLaDOS.

1 week ago, Portal 2 was released on the PS3 and was the first time the console had ever been exposed to Portal. GLaDOS knew we would expect a computer attack so GlaDOS waited. Waited until she could get into a system no one would ever expect an attack from. The PSN. It was the perfect target! The recent issues between Sony, GeoHotz, and Anon would make the perfect cover to operate under. GLaDOS attacked as soon as able and now, the PSN is down for who knows how long. This, my friends, is the beginning of a new era.

I for one welcome our new robot overlords.

 

[erbkaiser]

So IF it's true, Sony has kept us all offline for a week now (and counting) to protect their own profits from a few pirates.

Not just their profits, also the credit card information of their actual paying customers. These thieves have successfully gained developer access to the PSN, so they in theory at least could fuck up the system completely. Since I know Sony is not exactly using the best encryption for the PSN, I prefer they keep it down until they can successfully keep these thieves out rather than risk getting my credit card info and personal data in the hands of criminals.

Of course this does show that how Sony treats this data is insecure. Steam is also pretty much completely hacked, apparently you can get full Steam clients that have all downloads in them, but at least Steam doesn't store your credit card info directly so there's nothing a thief can steal even if they crack the system.

 

[Void Droid]

As long as they get it up and running I don't mind as I have single player games still to get through although there are quite a few people claiming Sony are lying without facts and if it turns out that they are indeed not it will give me a bit of a chuckle at the expense of others.

 

[oldtaku]

So IF it's true, Sony has kept us all offline for a week now (and counting) to protect their own profits from a few pirates.

Not just their profits, also the credit card information of their actual paying customers. These thieves have successfully gained developer access to the PSN, so they in theory at least could fuck up the system completely.

As reported the hack just lets you say 'yeah I paid for this, gimme' and doesn't give you anyone else's info. You just get to download free content because you've defeated the store handshake, not because you have access to their internal network.

If it does expose the credit cards then yeah, that would be something else entirely.

EDIT: Aaaaaaand apparently it /was/ much much worse than this mere custom firmware speculation.

 

[aaronobst]

Damn people!

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

@Pirates: You are the reason we can't have nice things!

 

[[Insert Name Here]]

[sarcasm] Oh, good thing I'm missing out on gametime on something that isn't stupid at all. [/sarcasm] Sony, pirating may be a problem, but it isn't MY problem.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

OH, wait, what was that?

Anonymous wasnt behind the "attack" on the PSN?


WHAT SHOCKING NEWS!

Indeed, one can only wait for the apology from Sony.

Prophetic?

 

[OutforEC]

1. Sony sues the guy who is able to hack their system because Sony is embarrassed that he did it. Don't even try to tell me that they weren't because anybody that hacks your system, you're gonna go for them, but wait did Sony do the smart thing and ask the guy how he did it?! NO the try to sue the shit out of him because they need to swing their mighty Sony cock around to show him who is boss.

2. No hard work was destroyed in terms of game wise, but rather distributed out and even before then, that is if you bothered to even read the previous posts, game sharing has been going on and Sony has done pretty much nothing to stop it. What exactly is being destroyed here? The PSN network? Its a good thing then if you support anti-piracy, because now they get to stop and it fill the holes.

3. Its pretty funny that if what the guy said is true, it took Sony AN ENTIRE MONTH to start doing anything about it. Just knowing about the problem but not actually coming up with a solution isn't doing anything, its trying to do something. Sony let it happen to themselves, they left a loophole and these guys just exploited it like anybody would do.

4. Here comes the killer of them all, its hackers/pirates that show the problems with what Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo make and then act accordingly. If anything these guys are doing the job that Sony was too fucking lazy to do for themselves.

Its people like you who don't think much and ride that high horse so far up that make the internet that jacked up cesspool that it is.

Think before you post.

Wow, talk about circular logic. If it weren't for the pirates, Sony wouldn't have to protect against piracy.

 

[Aeshi]

Don't worry. I'm sure they're just using the games they pirate for "homebrew" which makes it alright.

 

[Shirokurou]

I'll stick to my theory...
It was the Eyjafjallajökull cat?

 

[Sarge034]

If it's true, $10 says Sony doesn't sue those guys. Never mind that, unlike GeoHot, these are the actual people who are stealing from them and the publishers and developers who partner with Sony to put content on the Playstation Store. Never mind that, unlike GeoHot, these are the actual people who massively violated the Playstation Network Terms of Use. Never mind that, unlike GeoHot, these are the actual people who went so far that they had to bring PSN down and it's been down for a week now, meaning they and their previously mentioned partners aren't making any money from people who want to pay for their products. And never mind that, unlike GeoHot, these are the actual people who use PS3 cracks and custom firmware to disrupt services for Sony's customers.

Bottom line is, these guys actually did something that is very wrong and quite undeniable so if these accusations are true. If they are, these guys deserve every possible thing that Sony could throw at them if they wanted to and nearly every single Playstation customer out there would love to see them get their due. But Sony won't go after them, because that would make Sony look good. No, Sony only goes after people when they can look like massive assholes doing it (not just GeoHot; anyone else remember the time they sued Lik Sang into oblivion for having the audacity to sell PSPs?).

Go ahead, Sony. Prove me wrong. Ruin these people if they actually did what has been described in this news post. I've got a hat here that's looking pretty tasty, and I'd love a reason to eat it as well as a reason to buy Twisted Metal and Ratchet and Clank All 4 One when they come out instead of selling off everything I own that has the words "SONY" printed on it.

First off I'm not Sony, but um kay I'll bite. GeoHot WAS an actual person!!! (But who was phone?) Does that hat taste good yet?

Also, Sony will not sue these people. They will press criminal charges as this amounts to grand theft and tax evasion. The Federal Government and Interpol will then take over.

It is obvious you think Sony was out of line to pursue GeoHot. So it's cool if I get your personal information, right? I swear I will not use it myself. I will only freely distribute it so you will lose all of your money and die of starvation. Glad we understand each other. (I'm not a fucking hacker, THIS WAS A COMPARISON)

PS- If Lik Sang was selling Sony's products without the necessary "certified dealer" status then I can't feel bad for this group/person. If you are wondering what my personal opinion is then you will not like it. I hate all hackers equally. Anon, GeoHot, WikiLeaks, fuckers that cracked the PSN...... They can all go die in a fire, and watch Sony stamp out hackers in hell.

 

[Signa]

I was a little pissed at first if this was true, because it would mean that the pirates are shitting on everyone. Then I thought about it a little more, and if I understand things right, a "pirate" who has a hacked console isn't technically allowed on PSN anymore. Therefore, they aren't allowed to even be a Sony customer if they have decided to mod their console. Ergo, Sony, nor devs are actually losing money from these pirates because they just simply wouldn't be capable of buying in the first place. If that's the case, then Sony is a HUGE jackass for shitting on their entire customer base just because they are sad some one is getting free stuff when they told them they weren't allowed to pay for it.

I don't really want to argue about piracy right now, but do you really think that they should just leave such a massive loophole open because the people who first started exploiting it wouldn't have likely bought their games anyway? I'm quite certain that Sony's partners wouldn't appreciate that, and might start looking to do more business with Nintendo, Microsoft, Valve (Steam), and basically any other company if Sony's answer to such a massive exploit is "Eh. They weren't going to buy it anyway, so suck it up."

of course not, but I expect them to treat their current paying customers with far most respect

Plus, you can't deny that there are people out there who would stop paying and start pirating using the exploit if they had found out about it. If they plug the hole, those people are just going to have to keep paying instead.

actually, if I'm correct, anyone in that position would have already lost that opportunity. Anyone else that still has that option already planned on not being a paying customer. Those potential pirates you speak of most likely have upgraded their firmwares months ago to play the latest games. Once you upgraded, you can't be a pirate anymore, since there is no going back.

So once again, I'm pointing the finger at Sony for screwing over their paying customers for people who aren't paying. They just need to work hard at shutting the hole as soon as possible or throw out a temporary fix (such as blocking all new purchases until they can implement new checks for devs) without harming the real customers as much as possible. There are other ways to handle a situation like this, and Sony is doing the worst option by far. I don't even know what the monetary damages will be against them for losing so much image with their faithful customers. Arguably, their loss is still zero whether or not the hole gets plugged because those people weren't going to pay.

This is of course all assuming that this story is the real truth behind the scenes. There could be some little detail that might change my position on this, but I'm just giving my opinion of the facts I know.

 

[EchetusXe]

I was a little pissed at first if this was true, because it would mean that the pirates are shitting on everyone. Then I thought about it a little more, and if I understand things right, a "pirate" who has a hacked console isn't technically allowed on PSN anymore. Therefore, they aren't allowed to even be a Sony customer if they have decided to mod their console. Ergo, Sony, nor devs are actually losing money from these pirates because they just simply wouldn't be capable of buying in the first place. If that's the case, then Sony is a HUGE jackass for shitting on their entire customer base just because they are sad some one is getting free stuff when they told them they weren't allowed to pay for it.

That is exactly why I am doubtful of this rumour. It is like a massive supermarket has a few kids stealing sweets and the supermarket says "Right, we are shutting the place down for the busiest week of the year to stop these kids".

 

[holy_secret]

Why did I have to buy Mass Effect 2 for the PS3? I'm like one hour away from needing to download Arrival. Gah!!!