Xbox 360 Buckles Under Hacker Pressure?
First next-gen machine open to piracy claim
According to reports hitting various hacker groups overnight, the Xbox 360 has been hacked and will now boot games cut from ISO format to DVD-R. The claims, unsubstantiated at time of press, assert that the 360 middleware buckled under pressure from hackers, a mere four months after the Microsoft machine launched.
You can grab video feeds of the alleged hack here. And as you peruse the videos, think about this for a moment. The footage could well be hoax. Simply because, the AV cables shown running into the TV hosting Project Gotham Racing 3 aren't necessarily the source of the picture on the screen. There could well be an Xbox 360 running the game out of sight, plugged into the back of the set and for this reason we would doubt the hackers' claims of Microsoft pwnage.
A quote from one watcher in the hacker community reads:
So can it be that easy? Can the DVD drive's middleware be manipulated to allow any disc to be booted by the console. We'll find out in the coming days. Keep it locked.
You can grab video feeds of the alleged hack here. And as you peruse the videos, think about this for a moment. The footage could well be hoax. Simply because, the AV cables shown running into the TV hosting Project Gotham Racing 3 aren't necessarily the source of the picture on the screen. There could well be an Xbox 360 running the game out of sight, plugged into the back of the set and for this reason we would doubt the hackers' claims of Microsoft pwnage.
A quote from one watcher in the hacker community reads:
I have figured out how it was done in the video. (the video of the guy playing the PGR3 backup) here's the instructions, I am currently playing Full Auto (Backed up).
It's a modified firmware of the Xbox 360 DVD-ROM drive. As you (should) know, all Xbox 360 executables (XEX files) are signed by Microsoft (with a private key only MS has). This means that if you try to change anything to the XEX file, the signature will be wrong and the file will not boot.
Now ... to protect from booting an exact 1:1 copy of a game from a DVD-+R, microsoft gave each XEX file a 'mediaflag'. This mediaflag tells the Xbox 360 from which media (cd-r, dvd-r, dvd+r, dvd-rw, hdd, dvdxbox, dvdxbox360, ...). Changing this mediaflag in XEX is not an option as it'll break the signature (see above), so ... what's done in this firmware hack is breaking the detection of the disc.
It's a modified firmware of the Xbox 360 DVD-ROM drive. As you (should) know, all Xbox 360 executables (XEX files) are signed by Microsoft (with a private key only MS has). This means that if you try to change anything to the XEX file, the signature will be wrong and the file will not boot.
Now ... to protect from booting an exact 1:1 copy of a game from a DVD-+R, microsoft gave each XEX file a 'mediaflag'. This mediaflag tells the Xbox 360 from which media (cd-r, dvd-r, dvd+r, dvd-rw, hdd, dvdxbox, dvdxbox360, ...). Changing this mediaflag in XEX is not an option as it'll break the signature (see above), so ... what's done in this firmware hack is breaking the detection of the disc.
So can it be that easy? Can the DVD drive's middleware be manipulated to allow any disc to be booted by the console. We'll find out in the coming days. Keep it locked.
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Comments
schnide 20 Mar 2006 12:36
1/4
Depending on how much money Micro$oft is actually willing to lose, and if they're really in it for the long-term (and why wouldn't they be?) then it wouldn't surprise me if they want this to happen.
Being able to buy the box itself then a load of pirate games would be more tempting for the average chav PS2 owner, especially with 360 games being as expensive at they are.
So M$ lose a s**tload in this round but gain market dominance (a loss leader) before PS3 launches and the next round is theirs.
Their all-in-box is under the TVs of everyone and eventually, buying themselves into the market has won. Job done.
Being able to buy the box itself then a load of pirate games would be more tempting for the average chav PS2 owner, especially with 360 games being as expensive at they are.
So M$ lose a s**tload in this round but gain market dominance (a loss leader) before PS3 launches and the next round is theirs.
Their all-in-box is under the TVs of everyone and eventually, buying themselves into the market has won. Job done.
Greg2k 20 Mar 2006 12:42
2/4
Well, if it's fake, there'll be a legit video in about a month time. If it's real, then that's about all there is to it. The 360 WILL be hacked, because everything can. I never thought the Gamecube could be hacked in order to play "backup copies" of games, but I'm doing that at the moment with only software mods and it works perfectly. Warranty intact, and all.
Nothing is unhackable. The only thing that will stop piracy being an issue is how hard it can be for the average consumer to avoid paying. I know for a fact that piracy on the Gamecube is of NO concern whatsoever to Nintendo, since it's so incredibly complicated to play a pirate game. If the 360 can run copied games with a simple file someone can download off the net onto their 360, then there may be a problem. Resort to a modchip for a firmware hack, though, and piracy will also mean bugger all to Microsoft.
Nothing is unhackable. The only thing that will stop piracy being an issue is how hard it can be for the average consumer to avoid paying. I know for a fact that piracy on the Gamecube is of NO concern whatsoever to Nintendo, since it's so incredibly complicated to play a pirate game. If the 360 can run copied games with a simple file someone can download off the net onto their 360, then there may be a problem. Resort to a modchip for a firmware hack, though, and piracy will also mean bugger all to Microsoft.
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vault 13 21 Mar 2006 07:43
3/4
schnide wrote:
So M$ lose a s**tload in this round but gain market dominance (a loss leader) before PS3 launches and the next round is theirs.
Their all-in-box is under the TVs of everyone and eventually, buying themselves into the market has won. Job done.
Their all-in-box is under the TVs of everyone and eventually, buying themselves into the market has won. Job done.
If they follow your plan, they'll be bankrupt and all they'll dominate is their own joystick. So they have a machine under everyone's system, but no one is buying software, which is where all the money is coming from (the licensing). Piration never works out well for system manufacturers.
I'm sure if this story is not real, then it's very close to happening. Sodering, opening system, and reformatting hard drive guaranteed for correct operation. So it'll be a while before the average Joe can do it themselves.
kid_77 21 Mar 2006 14:22
4/4
Hacked firmware - with cracked challenge/response protocols - is now available on xbox torrent sites. Anyone willing to risk turning their 360 into a brick, please let me know the results :)