Hacks - SlashGear

‘hacks’ Stories

Codemasters Hacked, User Info Compromised

Chris Burns, Jun 10th 2011 Discuss [2]

If you're a fan of British video game developing, you know exactly what Codemasters is. This is The Codemasters Software Company Limited, aka one of the oldest video game developer companies in the world, having in the last 10 years established themselves in the USA as well with games such as DiRT3. In an email to customers today, Codemasters have noted that they've had an unauthorized entry into their codemasters.com webpage that has subsequently made the company have to take the entire site offline. Though they did so in order to stop the intruders from accessing information from user accounts specifically, these hackers have done so anyway. Read The Full Story

LastPass CEO details data breach: “maybe too alarmist”

Chris Davies, May 6th 2011 Discuss [0]

LastPass has further detailed the security breach which saw the password management company lose customer information and advise all customers to change their master password, as well as attempting to remedy issues some users had in doing so. Speaking to PCWorld, LastPass CEO Joe Siegrist confirmed that the names and passwords of up to "a couple hundred" users could have been taken, as well as their encrypted passwords; however, he also suggested that the company was "maybe too alarmist ourselves" and that the potential for misuse after the data breach was in fact low. Read The Full Story

BlackBerry PlayBook native code hack beats RIM’s SDK to the punch

Chris Davies, May 6th 2011 Discuss [0]

RIM's native SDK for the BlackBerry PlayBook - demonstrated at BlackBerry World 2011 earlier this week - isn't expected until sometime this summer, but one developer has already figured out a way to bypass the existing Adobe AIR environment and get QNX native code running on the 7-inch tablet. Adam Bell discovered that, with a little tweaking, it's possible to copy QNX apps coded on the QNX desktop environment, aka the Neutrino SDP (software development platform), over to the PlayBook and have them run as native code. Read The Full Story

Microsoft: Unofficially updated Windows Phones won’t get our software

Chris Davies, May 5th 2011 Discuss [0]

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows Phone 7 handsets unofficially upgraded to NoDo (aka update 7390) using the ChevronWP7 tool will not be able to upgrade to the new 7392 version being pushed out now, at least by official means. According to the Windows Team Blog, the unofficial modifications leave the Windows Phone handsets looking to the Zune PC software as incompletely upgraded: because of that you get error code 80180048 and can't go any further. Build 7392 isn't expected to bring any especially interesting changes, but the issue could lead to headaches down the road when Microsoft releases more significant updates like Mango to the platform. Read The Full Story

Project iKinect adds iPhone to Kinect gaming for boosted control [Video]

Chris Davies, Apr 29th 2011 Discuss [1]

The great Kinect hacks continue, and next up is a way to bypass Microsoft's limitations on micro-movement recognition by throwing another controller into the mixture: namely an iPhone. Project iKinect is a PC-based co-play system which allows for more complex gameplay, using the Kinect motion sensor to track general movement and the iPhone's various sensors and touchscreen for micro-movement recognition. Read The Full Story

PlayStation Network credit card data reportedly up for sale warn security experts

Chris Davies, Apr 29th 2011 Discuss [14]

Sony's PlayStation Network headaches continue, with security researchers claiming that the hackers who broke into the company's databases are offering to sell credit card numbers stolen from PSN users. Trend Micro threat researcher Kevin Stevens, reports the NYTimes, says that not only are the hackers seeking in excess of $100,000 for the database - which Sony has insisted is encrypted, but which other security experts warn may too have been infiltrated - but that they even offered it back to Sony. Read The Full Story

Sony moving PSN data center in hack response

Chris Davies, Apr 28th 2011 Discuss [5]

Sony still refuses to detail the exact exploit used to hack the PlayStation Network and its Qriocity streaming service, but has admitted that as well as updating the software security of the network, it is physically "moving our network infrastructure and data center to a new, more secure location." The changes are part of a number of steps Sony has been forced to take after reportedly pulling down the PSN after rampant piracy took hold. Read The Full Story

Sony pulled PlayStation Network over rampant piracy?

Chris Davies, Apr 26th 2011 Discuss [11]

A new explanation for the ongoing Sony PlayStation Network downtime has been suggested, with claims that Sony has taken the service offline so as to close a loophole that had been responsible for "extreme piracy of PSN content." PSX-Scene's "Chesh" took to Reddit to outline how a new PlayStation 3 custom firmware called Rebug was used by hackers to gain access to the PSN's developer networks. From there, it was possible to input fake credit card information and buy content without ever paying for it. Read The Full Story

Sony admits PSN hacked: No restore date in sight

Chris Davies, Apr 24th 2011 Discuss [644]

Sony has admitted that "an external intrusion" is responsible for the PlayStation Network downtime, which began last week and has continued throughout the weekend. The exact nature of the attack has not been identified, but forced Sony to take both the PSN and its Qriocity media streaming services offline late on Wednesday evening. Work is now underway to rebuild the PSN with "additional security" according to a company spokesperson. Read The Full Story

DIY Android SNES gamepad ideal for retro ROMs [Video]

Chris Davies, Apr 22nd 2011 Discuss [1]

It's not quite a Nintendo Wii 2 with a touchscreen controller, but Bruno Soares hack to control retro Super Nintendo games on his Android smartphone with a classic SNES controller is pretty impressive all the same. The hack uses everybody's favorite microcontroller, the Arduino, to hook up to an HTC Desire HD. Read The Full Story

Featured

SlashGear 101: What is a Jailbreak?

Chris Davies, Apr 20th 2011 Discuss [0]

Almost for as long as Apple has made the iPhone, owners of the handset have hoped to coax more features out of it than are officially supported. That desire spawned the jailbreak scene, hacking the iPhone – and, since then, the iPod touch, iPad and Apple TV – to bypass some of Apple’s limitations. So what’s a jailbreak, why should you do it, and will Apple confiscate your iPhone if you try? Read on as SlashGear 101 brings you up to speed.