wweomaniac
06-03-2002, 09:14 PM
MIT Cracks Xbox
Computer enthusiasts have dreamt of using Xbox as a computer with Linux and other operating systems since the earliest days of the system. Thanks to Andrew Huang, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), that dream could soon become reality, as it seems the Xbox security system has been circumvented. According to an article on Reuters, after completing a PhD thesis on supercomputer architecture, Huang wrote a memo describing plans to construct hardware that would allow the reading of the Xbox’s internal security system. Information on how to accomplish this was posted in a 15-page report over the weekend at Slashdot and, according to the report, the custom board used for circumventing the security system only took three weeks to build at a total cost of $50 dollars.
The report went on to state that due to the fact the serial numbers are stored in the Xbox CPU, the system could be vulnerable online. Specifically, it was revealed that it wouldn't be too hard for a hacker to find out users personal information via the serial key. The full 15-page report can be found here (ftp://publications.ai.mit.edu/ai-publications/2002/AIM-2002-008.pdf) , and the full story here (http://www.reuters.com/co_news_presentation.jhtml?type=companynews&provider=companynews&StoryID=1044369&symbol1=MSFT.O&symbol2=MSFT.O).
comment: wow! They have nothing to do with their time.
Computer enthusiasts have dreamt of using Xbox as a computer with Linux and other operating systems since the earliest days of the system. Thanks to Andrew Huang, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), that dream could soon become reality, as it seems the Xbox security system has been circumvented. According to an article on Reuters, after completing a PhD thesis on supercomputer architecture, Huang wrote a memo describing plans to construct hardware that would allow the reading of the Xbox’s internal security system. Information on how to accomplish this was posted in a 15-page report over the weekend at Slashdot and, according to the report, the custom board used for circumventing the security system only took three weeks to build at a total cost of $50 dollars.
The report went on to state that due to the fact the serial numbers are stored in the Xbox CPU, the system could be vulnerable online. Specifically, it was revealed that it wouldn't be too hard for a hacker to find out users personal information via the serial key. The full 15-page report can be found here (ftp://publications.ai.mit.edu/ai-publications/2002/AIM-2002-008.pdf) , and the full story here (http://www.reuters.com/co_news_presentation.jhtml?type=companynews&provider=companynews&StoryID=1044369&symbol1=MSFT.O&symbol2=MSFT.O).
comment: wow! They have nothing to do with their time.