Home
There have been alot of messages lately with people concerned that psdeath666 is sending people a virus via a picture attachment.
This is a stupid rumor.
The PS3 has a 0.000001% chance of getting a virus.
If you want to learn more then read on my friend. (Warning; geek material ahead).
First off, the PS3 uses the following file formats for pictures;
•JPEG (DCF 2.0/Exif 2.21 compliant)
•TIFF
•BMP
•GIF
•PNG
These file formats do not support opening and running code which is required to infect an operating system with a virus. Simply put, pictures on the PS3 can only infect your mind.
Next let's address the PS3 operating system (O/S). It is a Linux based system, but the exact "flavor" of Linux is proprietary info and Sony will not release that kind of information. A person writing a virus program would have to know the exact O/S in order to make a virus that would work.
Looking deeper into the PS3 Linux O/S, we see that we, as users of the PS3, do not have access to the Root file structure. A virus would need to access this part of the system in order to be effective. If a virus was written and somehow executed on your logged in name, you could easily erase it by performing a system restore.
Next let's look at reasons why someone would write a virus for the PS3. Ummm, hmmm, not sure. Since all personal information as well as credit card info is stored on Sony's PSN servers, there is no info to steal from you. I guess they could wipe your hard drive, but a system restore puts the PS3 back together again anyway. All you would lose is your game saves. I suppose it is a major challenge to hackers to write a virus for the PS3 so bragging rights is the biggest incentive.
The web browser does not allow code to run either. If you are surfing the web with the PS3 browser and a pop up says you are infected, ignore it. It is a phishing scam trying to scare you into buying their product.
Making a virus and making it work for the PS3 is a huge challenge. The few people that could actually do it, probably would never waste their time on the PS3 when Windows is so easy to hack.
Some people have said that the psdeath666 virus actually steals your account info so he can steal your PSN name. This is just ridiculous. If true, all you have to do is reset your password through Sony using your email associated with your account.
I tried to infect my PS3 with a few hard to find Linux exploits and none of them worked on the PS3. There was no way to make them run since I could not open a shell in the PS3. So I installed Ubuntu Linux on my PS3 as a dual boot O/S and infected my Ubuntu which lives on my PS3. I logged on to the PS3 game side of my PS3 and it was not infected.
As of today, there are NO viruses or exploits for the PS3. If one is ever made, you can be sure it will be frontpage news on all gamer wesites and probably in the news itself.
Can we stop the **VIRUS WARNING** spam on the PS3 please?
This is a stupid rumor.
The PS3 has a 0.000001% chance of getting a virus.
If you want to learn more then read on my friend. (Warning; geek material ahead).
First off, the PS3 uses the following file formats for pictures;
•JPEG (DCF 2.0/Exif 2.21 compliant)
•TIFF
•BMP
•GIF
•PNG
These file formats do not support opening and running code which is required to infect an operating system with a virus. Simply put, pictures on the PS3 can only infect your mind.
Next let's address the PS3 operating system (O/S). It is a Linux based system, but the exact "flavor" of Linux is proprietary info and Sony will not release that kind of information. A person writing a virus program would have to know the exact O/S in order to make a virus that would work.
Looking deeper into the PS3 Linux O/S, we see that we, as users of the PS3, do not have access to the Root file structure. A virus would need to access this part of the system in order to be effective. If a virus was written and somehow executed on your logged in name, you could easily erase it by performing a system restore.
Next let's look at reasons why someone would write a virus for the PS3. Ummm, hmmm, not sure. Since all personal information as well as credit card info is stored on Sony's PSN servers, there is no info to steal from you. I guess they could wipe your hard drive, but a system restore puts the PS3 back together again anyway. All you would lose is your game saves. I suppose it is a major challenge to hackers to write a virus for the PS3 so bragging rights is the biggest incentive.
The web browser does not allow code to run either. If you are surfing the web with the PS3 browser and a pop up says you are infected, ignore it. It is a phishing scam trying to scare you into buying their product.
Making a virus and making it work for the PS3 is a huge challenge. The few people that could actually do it, probably would never waste their time on the PS3 when Windows is so easy to hack.
Some people have said that the psdeath666 virus actually steals your account info so he can steal your PSN name. This is just ridiculous. If true, all you have to do is reset your password through Sony using your email associated with your account.
I tried to infect my PS3 with a few hard to find Linux exploits and none of them worked on the PS3. There was no way to make them run since I could not open a shell in the PS3. So I installed Ubuntu Linux on my PS3 as a dual boot O/S and infected my Ubuntu which lives on my PS3. I logged on to the PS3 game side of my PS3 and it was not infected.
As of today, there are NO viruses or exploits for the PS3. If one is ever made, you can be sure it will be frontpage news on all gamer wesites and probably in the news itself.
Can we stop the **VIRUS WARNING** spam on the PS3 please?
