Minecraft: Pocket Edition site Lifeboat hacked 7 million accounts at risk

If you use Lifeboat, you can check the HaveIBeenPwned.com database within the next few days to see if your email address is a part of the breach. But it’s advisable that all Lifeboat users change all of their passwords if you use that login information on any other site.

Lifeboat recently force everyone to reset their passwords.

PSN and Xbox Live hacked on Christmas day or just busy?

Every Christmas, as thousands of new used open their new consoles on Christmas day the Playstation and Xbox networks struggle.

But as the issues happen hackers claim it's their efforts taht are causing the problems. The gamezplay view is just the number of exisitng and new users jointing.

Only time will tell.

PlayStation 'master key' leaked online

Sony PlayStation 3 security information has been leaked online, making it easier for users to play pirated games.

Sony email apology for Hacked PSN accounts

Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve the current outage of PlayStation Network & Qriocity services. The following email has been sent to all PSN registrants; please read the help and support FAQ for more information.

GeoHot's latest discovery: Reveals PS3 'root key' to allow custom/pirated software

George "GeoHot" Hotz, a hacker renowned for cracking the Apple iPhone, has just announced his finding and public release of the root key used by Sony's PlayStation 3 console. The root key was in-place to verify the authenticity of software being run on the PS3, in order to counter-act the use of pirated/homebrew software on the console.

However, with this release, should the root key be correctly applied, it would mean that any software could be played on the PlayStation 3, including modified versions of original content or entirely new games altogether.

Mario Kart Wii - useless on a chipped Nintendo Wii - Chip it and you brick it

Mario Kart Yoshi

A Wii chipping factory has been tracked down to fraudsters in Leicestershire. The Wii is the nation’s favourite family console – so much so that the Japanese corporation hasn’t been able to keep up with UK demand for not one but two Christmases! But an undercover sting by Leicestershire’s Trading Standards Department backed by the games industry’s own crime unit unveiled a counterfeit plot potentially worth £millions.

As a result of enquiries made by TSD officers and investigators from ELSPA, the trade body for the country’s major games publishers, a home was raided in the Coalville area of Leicestershire this week. The raid, which was undertaken by Leicestershire TSD and police, turned up vital evidence suggesting the non-descript home actually housed sophisticated counterfeiting apparatus – including an industrial unit to churn out rogue console chips. At least two people have so far been arrested for their part in the ‘fraud factory’. More than 2,000 counterfeit chips, were recovered from the raid. These consisted mostly of Wii console chips although some were for Xbox 360 and PlayStation2 consoles. A number of consoles were also seized. After the planned trial, all the rogue chips will be destroyed – if only to avoid disappointment amongst the nation’s competitive children and parents.

A Nintendo insider said:

“A chipped Wii might sound cool but it is useless. The latest Wii extravaganza, seeing Mario back in a racer at the front of the pack, Mario Kart Wii, would be useless on a chipped Wii. You’ll never get the interaction or support when it all unravels. You’d have to be pretty stupid to think online gaming won’t be easily log-able in such digital days! Chip it and you brick it, as we say around the office. There is only one real Wii experience – and it doesn’t come chipped!”

Following the crack-down, visitors to the offending website are currently greeted with this ominous message:

“The site is currently down for maintenance. Normal service will resume shortly, sorry for the inconvenience.”

Michael Rawlinson from ELSPA said:

“Fraud can cost Internet companies a lot more than just its visitors. Our investigators are out in force working with Trading Standards Departments across the land combing everything from Sunday car-boot sales to auction websites 24/7 seeking-out counterfeiters. The message from the nation’s favourite games publishers is simple, fraudsters can run but they can no longer hide!”

John Hillier, who heads ELSPA’s crime unit, said:

“Piracy costs the games industry dear – just like that of any other entertainment industry. Making good and inventive games is an expensive and creative process, with some titles today costing £20m or more to develop. To make a quality title involves teams of highly skilled professionals, from programmers and graphic artists to voice actors and musicians. When a pirate sells illegally-copied games they undermine the viability of our industry and in turn that threatens jobs.”

Paul Jackson, Director General of ELSPA, added:

“We would like to thank Leicestershire’s Trading Standards Department, and Police for all their efforts during this investigation. We have now stepped up our campaign against thieves of games software and others who attempt to flout intellectual property rights of our members. We have sophisticated tracking techniques at our disposal these days and as my colleague put it, the cyber-criminals can run but they can no longer hide!”

Hackers say they can steal 'Second Life' currency

Over on Dean Takahashi's San Jose Mercury News blog today, he reported on the discovery by a pair of security researchers that it may be possible to steal Second Life users' in-world currency.

That would be a big problem, of course, because the currency, known as Linden dollars, are directly convertible to U.S. dollars.

According to Takahashi's story, hackers Charles Miller and Dino Dai Zovi told him that they have uncovered an exploit that could allow someone to fleece Second Life residents of their Linden dollars.

The exploit is related to Apple's QuickTime software, which is used to display videos in Second Life.

"The exploit works because Second Life allows users to embed videos or pictures on their characters or their virtual property," Takahashi wrote. "When someone comes nearby and is within view of the object, the Second Life software activates QuickTime so it can play the video or picture. In doing so, QuickTime directs the Second Life software to a Web site. By exploiting the flaw in QuickTime, the hackers can direct the Second Life software to a malicious Web site that then allows them to take over the Second Life avatar.

The end result of that could be that a malicious hacker could then strip the avatar of any Linden dollar holdings.

For its part, Takahashi wrote, Linden Lab told him that the exploit is easily patched. Nonetheless, the company put up a warning on its blog Friday.

Takahashi said that Linden Lab told him, "We were alerted a short time ago by Internet security professionals that a QuickTime exploit has been discovered which may allow an attacker to crash or exploit any user of the QuickTime software from Apple. The Second Life viewer uses QT to play videos and therefore this exploit could potentially affect the residents of Second Life. This exploit affects all platforms that use QuickTime and, to date, Apple has not released a fix for it."

To date, however, Takahashi wrote, Linden Lab said it isn't aware of anyone actually using the exploit to rob anyone.

For residents of Second Life, then, the solution may be to avoid holding onto large numbers of Linden dollars.

As I told Takahashi when he asked me to comment for his story on Linden dollar security, "As one SL business owner said to me...you should always have a backup plan in case of a glitch that causes you to lose everything, because you never know what might happen. And in the case of Linden dollars, that likely means doing regular (Linden dollar/U.S. dollar) exchanges so as not to keep too many Lindens in your SL account. You can't lose what's not there."

More here...

Hackers put violence back into censored Manhunt 2

PSP version tampered with less than 24 hours after release

Hackers have already tampered with the code of Rockstar's Manhunt 2 to reinstate the violent scenes and images thought to have been removed from the game.

The PSP version of the controversial title has been exploited less than 24 hours since the game was officially released in North America.

The PlayStation 2 version of the game had already been distributed across the internet via torrent sites, a move that Rockstar has blamed on Sony Computer Entertainment.

The game has been censored in the US in order for it to receive an M rating – and therefore a release – rather than the original AO rating it was given by the ESRB.

The illegal exploit of the original PSP code indicates that the scenes that were cut in order to secure an M rating were not removed from the full game, rather disabled, much like the Hot Coffee mini-games in Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Source: Games Industry

Wii Hack playing backups (confirmed working)

Nintendo Wii playing backups



Or watch here