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iPhone hacker George Hotz, aka "GeoHot," was able to finally crack the PlayStation 3... three years after the system's release. He praised the hardware for its security, but now that Sony has responded by removing the Linux capabilities of the PlayStation 3 entirely, the hacker has decided to fight back, warning gamers not to update their systems until he finds a way to keep the Other OS option on the PlayStation 3. . The problem for Sony is that GeoHot is now threatening to release custom firmware for the system, which is quite the escalation from what was previously available from the hacking community. "I never intended to touch [custom firmware], but if that's how you want to play..." Hotz wrote on his blog. Sony may have done much more harm than good with its April 1 update. The hacker speaks Hotz is skeptical about the reasons for the update. "What security concerns? It's not like the exploit can be run even close to without the users knowledge. You have to open the f**king thing up. How could this harm users?" He points out that the blog post doesn't give users any positive gains from the update, simply threatens what they'll lose if they don't. Urging gamers to wait on the update, he says he's working on a workaround that will allow you to continue to play games online as well as keep your Linux partition. The article located at arsTechnica is no longer available. . GeoHot is set to release custom firmware for PlayStation 3 after Sony's update removes Linux support.. GeoHot, PlayStation 3, custom firmware, Linux support, security risks. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Sony has announced that its latest firmware update will disable the "Other OS" option on the PS3. This means that the PS3 will no longer support the Linux OS.. The decision to drop the Other OS option ultimately comes down to security, according to Sony. Noted PS3 hacker George Hotz released an exploit last month that allowed read/write access to the PS3 through Linux and the Other OS option. Sony estimates that only a small percentage of PS3 owners use the Other OS option, but the Playstation Blog is being overrun by complaints by fans who hope this is just an April Fools prank by Sony. The post on the update at the Playstation Blog has this to say as a rebuttal. "For most of you, this won The link for this article located at The Examiner is no longer available. . Microsoft restricts Xbox 360's Linux functionality for safety reasons, impacting user options and access.. PlayStation 3,Firmware Update,Other OS Security. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
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