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PlayStation Classic Hacked Easily Due to Missing Basic Security Features

PlayStation Classic Hacked Easily Due to Missing Basic Security Features

By Rishi Alwani | Updated: 12 December 2018 19:39 IST

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Highlights

The PlayStation Classic has been out for barely 10 days
It's already been hacked
Savvy gamers can run PS1 games that weren't preloaded onto the system

The PlayStation Classic is Sony's answer to Nintendo's NES and SNES Mini retro consoles. And while it lacks the games library or build quality of either of Nintendo's efforts, it appears to be hacked with ease, allowing games that weren't preloaded on the PlayStation Classic such as Crash Bandicoot to run on it. The PlayStation Classic release date was December 3 and barely 10 days since, hackers appear to have laid the system bare what with a Linux-based port of seminal shooter Doom already up and running on the PlayStation Classic. It appears that the reason for this extremely fast progress on hacking the PlayStation Classic has to do with Sony's sloppy attempt at security.

Console hackers yifanlu and madmonkey1907 were able to dump the PlayStation Classic's code via the system's serial port in the days after its release. After this, they discovered that the most crucial parts of the PlayStation Classic were signed and encrypted using a key in the device itself instead of using one held by Sony alone.

What this means is Sony is selling the PlayStation Classic with the means to modify how it can be used within the device itself. You'd think Sony would care to include basic security measures, though this is far from the case.

This has, according to Ars Technica, allowed for open source projects that let PlayStation Classic owners use a USB drive in the right format to run PS1 games that weren't preloaded on the system. This could result in the beginnings of a colossal home-brew scene for the PS1 that Sony could try to quell with future revisions of the PlayStation Classic.

The PlayStation Classic price is $99.99 (roughly Rs. 7,300). It will go on sale in the US market as well as Canada starting December 3. The price of the PlayStation Classic is notably higher than the $80 SNES Classic and $60 NES Classic Edition.

Details about its price and availability in India are yet to be revealed. We've reached out to Sony India for clarity on the India launch of the PlayStation Classic and will update this space accordingly. It should show up in the Indian market as well, given that Sony has an official presence here - unlike Nintendo.

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