Sony PlayStation 3: iPhone jailbreaker hacks the PS3?

If this be true, then Sony would be in deep trouble here moving forward. Up ’til now, Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3) has largely been untouchable due to its Blu-ray technology. Secure hardware plus Blu-ray level encryption has kept PS3 piracy at a reasonable minimum. Copy protection for Blu-ray discs, the professional movie ones, have of course been hacked already. Blu-ray games on the PS3 are another level altogether. Coupled with robust hardware security on the PS3 unit itself, these games have been “unhacked”. Up until now, that is.

The Sony PlayStation 3 - the "unhackable" has been hacked?

George Hotz, famous for “jailbreak”-ing the iPhone back in 2007 when he was still a 17-year old kid, has released an exploit on the Sony PlayStation 3 and told the BBC about it:

A US hacker who gained notoriety for unlocking Apple’s iPhone as a teenager has told BBC News that he has now hacked Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3).
George Hotz said the hack, which could allow people to run pirated games or homemade software, took him five weeks. He said he was still refining the technique but intended to post full details online soon. The PS3 is the only games console that has not been hacked, despite being on the market for three years.
“It’s supposed to be unhackable – but nothing is unhackable,” Mr Hotz told BBC News.
“I can now do whatever I want with the system. It’s like I’ve got an awesome new power – I’m just not sure how to wield it.”
Sony said it was “investigating the report” and would “clarify the situation” when it had more information.

George Hotz - "Nothing is unhackable."

In his blog, Hotz — or famously known as the hacker geohot, has actually released the PS3 exploit. He claims that the hack is  “5% hardware and 95% software”.

The PS3 hack in progress

“You can use hardware to inject an insecurity and then you can build on that,” Hotz said in the interview. He also admitted that he had not managed to hack the whole system, including the protected memory, but had worked out ways to trick the console into doing what he wanted.
This is actually a “win” already for Sony that the PS3 has lasted 3 years without being hacked. A lot of people have commended the PS3 engineering and security team for building a very robust security system on the console. But, as Mr. Hotz put it, “Nothing is unhackable.”
Expect pirated PS3 games to come out very soon. Or at least, a lot of people downloading Blu-ray images into their portable hard drives and linking them to their PS3s
The full article here at BBC.co.uk.