Mod-chip makers and Linux programmers have managed to break through a revamped security system in Microsoft's gaming console, allowing it to run their own software. Xbox security is seen as a test bed for future copy-locked PCs A group of independent programmers says it has managed to crack a new security system in Microsoft's Xbox gaming console, less than a month after the reconfigured consoles hit the market.. . .
Mod-chip makers and Linux programmers have managed to break through a revamped security system in Microsoft's gaming console, allowing it to run their own software. Xbox security is seen as a test bed for future copy-locked PCs A group of independent programmers says it has managed to crack a new security system in Microsoft's Xbox gaming console, less than a month after the reconfigured consoles hit the market. Breaking the new system took less than a week, the hackers said.

Using a complicated method for analysing the new configuration, along with some unexpected help from Microsoft, the hackers said on Saturday that they are now able to run their own software -- including the Linux operating system -- on the newer consoles.

Microsoft said it reconfigured the hardware in order to cut down manufacturing costs, but it also changed the way security was implemented at the same time. The newer units, which began to arrive on store shelves about three weeks ago, made obsolete the 'mod chips' used to run unauthorised software on the Xbox.

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