2triky wrote:Definitely a huge gaff but can't they still threaten to brick your console as a countermeasure? Don't know, just asking.
There is nothing they can do as the public and private encryption keys used by the PS3 are now known.
Let's say Sony decides to "do a Microsoft" and send a challenge of some sort to the console to see if it has been rooted. As the encryption keys are known the challenge can be intercepted, decrypted, and the appropriate answer can be generated, encrypted, and returned. There is no way Sony can tell if the original firmware generated the response or if some other software did.
This all came about because Sony decided to remove the feature that allowed Linux to run on the PS3. No one really bothered trying to attack the PS3's security as Sony allowed homebrew software onto the unit (via Linux) from the time it was new. About a year ago Sony changed their minds and forced an update onto existing consoles to remove this feature and block people from using Linux. Understandably this pissed off a lot of people (it was a big reason they had bought the console!) and the result is what we see now.
Sony really, really shot themselves in the foot with this. It also means that the PS4 won't be able to be backwards compatible with the PS3 unless they are willing to leave this massive hole wide open. (Which I can't imagine they are!)
