Today infamous PS3 hacker GeoHot has blogged that users should not update their PS3 entertainment systems to PS3 Firmware v3.21 when it is released this Thursday as it will disable the OtherOS functionality, and as incentive not to update he has promised the very community he isn't sharing details on how to dump lv2 with that he will work on a solution which could include PS3 Custom Firmware.

To quote: "A note to people interested in the exploit and retaining OtherOS support, DO NOT UPDATE. When 3.21 comes out, I will look into a safe way of updating to retain OtherOS support, perhaps something like Hellcat's Recovery Flasher. I never intended to touch CFW, but if that's how you want to play...

First off, I want to apologize to all the people who use Linux on their PS3. Before releasing, I weighed the pros and cons, and considered the possibility of an impact on OtherOS support.

My logic was this. OtherOS support had already been removed from the Slim (not for technical reasons; I believe it only existed in the first place to promote the Cell for IBM) The builders had apparently no intention of including it in future products. So for the purposes of openness why not release? Not like anything else has (or probably will be) done on the PS3.

Now you go and remove a feature that people expected to be included with the expensive device they purchased, citing "security concerns". What security concerns? It's not like the exploit can be run even close to without the users knowledge.

You have to open the thing up. How could this harm users? Your blog post doesn't list positive reasons for upgrading like I think most users expect. Instead it lists things you will lose if you don't upgrade. Seriously?

The PlayStation 3 is the only product I know that loses features throughout it's life cycle. Software PS2 emulation, SACD playback, and OtherOS support are all just software switches you can flip. It's unbelievable you would go and flip one, not just on new boxes you are shipping, but on tens of millions already in the field."

Here is to hoping GeoHot releases a PlayStation 3 solution in a timely manner, as unfortunately the entire PS3 (and Linux) scene is left waiting on him at the moment.

Stay tuned for more PS3 Hacks news. Also be sure to drop by the PS3 Hacks Forum for updates!

Source: http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Hacks/geohot-dont-update-to-3-21-promises-ps3-custom-firmware/#ixzz0jcMZuvo4

It seems a bit late to the party, but Microchip has just announced a family of PIC development boards for Apple products. The three offerings include a digital audio development kit, 8-bit accessory development and charging kit, and a 16-bit accessory development and charging kit for iPhone or iPod.

We’ve seen a lot of homebrew Apple addons that use microcontrollers. This not only takes the hardware interface to the next level, it does it with Apple’s blessing. But somehow that doesn’t seem like quite as much fun.

Source and images:
http://hackaday.com/2010/03/29/microchips-pic-development-for-iphone-and-ipod/

Since 1977, RSA public-key encryption has protected privacy and verified authenticity when using computers, gadgets and web browsers around the globe, with only the most brutish of brute force efforts (and 1,500 years of processing time) felling its 768-bit variety earlier this year. Now, three eggheads (or Wolverines, as it were) at the University of Michigan claim they can break it simply by tweaking a device's power supply. By fluctuating the voltage to the CPU such that it generated a single hardware error per clock cycle, they found that they could cause the server to flip single bits of the private key at a time, allowing them to slowly piece together the password. With a small cluster of 81 Pentium 4 chips and 104 hours of processing time, they were able to successfully hack 1024-bit encryption in OpenSSL on a SPARC-based system, without damaging the computer, leaving a single trace or ending human life as we know it. That's why they're presenting a paper at the Design, Automation and Test conference this week in Europe, and that's why -- until RSA hopefully fixes the flaw -- you should keep a close eye on your server room's power supply.

Source and more information:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/09/1024-bit-rsa-encryption-cracked-by-carefully-starving-cpu-of-ele/

Save games exploits are popping up everywhere as of late. The PSP scene makes it strike 3 for save game exploits, as Japanese coder mamosuke found a new exploit. He’s calling it the “Half-Boiled” exploit. This save game exploit is from an unknown Japanese region game and has been tested on a PSP-2000 running 6.20 OFW.

Why Mamosuke is calling this a half-boiled exploit as he can only change (Value1) and (Value2).Maybe something useful could come of this, perhaps someone in the know could get in touch with Mamosuke and see if this game exploit be worked into something of use?

Some notes from Mamosuke

I found a PSP savedata exploit in a certain game(region:Japan) which could be able to put any data you want in some registers including $ra. It is available in OFW6.20.(I tried with PSP-2000)
Now I call it “Half-Boiled” SAVEDATA Exploit.
Some of the registers can be changed to any value,but only half of them.
$raを 0×00(Value1)00(Value2)
For example, $ra to 0×00(Value1)00(Value2)
It means that I can change (Value1) and (Value2) only.
Ya,half of .So this is “Half boiled” exploit.
I can’t confirm where a balue “00″ come from.
(“Value1″ and “Velue2″ are confirmed.)
I tried to change all of the data “00″ in SAVEDATA to “61″ or “41″, and found crashing as before, but the value of registers did have no change: The situation remained unchanged.This would be distinctive of this game.
I have not investigated all of them so that I don’t know this is useful as an exploit.What do you think?

Source:
http://pspslimhacks.com/half-boiled-save-game-data-exploit-found/

Trusted Platform Module based cryptography protects your secrets as well as your government’s secrets. Well, it used to. [Christopher Tarnovsky] figured out how to defeat the hardware by spying on its communications. This requires physical access so it’s not quite as bad as it sounds, but this does reach beyond TPM to many of the security chips made by Infineon. This includes peripheral security chips for Xbox 360 and some chips used in cell phones and satellite TV.

[Christopher] revealed his hack during his presentation at Black Hat 2010. The method is wicked-hard, involving removal of the chip’s case and top layer, then tapping into a data bus to get at unencrypted data. The chip still has some tricks up its sleeve and includes firmware traps that keep a look out for this type of attack, shutting down if it’s detected. Infineon commented that they knew this was possible but regard it as a low threat due to the high skill level necessary for success.

Source:
http://hackaday.com/2010/02/09/tpm-crytography-cracked/