Through all of the issues that Sony has had with hacking and its devices, it’s been on top of hacks and manipulation of the PlayStation 3. The newest issue, however, looks to be much more problematic.
Through all of the hacking issues up to this point, Sony has been able to properly plug all of the holes in the system pretty effectively with the 3.60 firmware update. The Jailbreak exploit that used the USB drive to manipulate the PS3 was fixed, and Geohot was caught and penalized. The latest software manipulation, coined LV0, looks to have the ability to break into the PS3 much easier than previous exploits.
In the light of this custom firmware, the passphrase security protocol for the PlayStation Network was leaked, which allows hacked consoles full access to the PlayStation Network. The relevancy of this is tied to the fact that the LV0 custom firmware will be able to break through security protocols in the upcoming 4.30 update with a hefty workaround. Even though every PS3 requires a decryption of all firmware downloads, the LV0 firmware key reroutes that decryption process to a PC and allows any existing 3.55-firmware PS3 to still access and use the PlayStation Network. Since the PS3 slim launched with update 2.80, this is relevant for both the fat PS3 and the PS3 Slim.
It should be noted that LV0 was only released because the master key, LV0, was created by a group called "The Three Tuskateers," and the key was leaked onto the internet and the group had no intention of distributing the exploitation. However, the leak ended up in the hands of a Chinese hacking team called "BlueDiscCFW," who planned to charge money for users who wanted the exploit. So, in hopes of stopping BlueDiscCFW’s profitting from LV0, The Three Tuskateers released the LV0 custom firmware free to the public. The Three Tuskateers had this to say:
"You can be sure that if it wouldn’t have been for this leak, this key would never have seen the light of day, only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now."
Hopefully, with Sony’s upcoming official 4.30 firmware, it has found a way to block off the exploit.
Via Eurogamer