'Rebug' CFW caused Sony to take down PSN?

As we have reported since last Wednesday, the Sony PSN has been down to due an "external intrusion on our system."

Sony said the downtime would likely be 48 hours but the network still remains down, over 100 hours later.

Today, a new rumor has it that the "Rebug" custom firmware for the PS3 caused Sony to desperately take down their own network, on one of the more popular weekends for gaming of the whole year.

The Rebug CFW is a mod to a proxy server, allowing users to simulate turning their PS3 into debug units used by Sony developers.

Using those mods, hackers can enter any credit card number they want and download games and other content for free from the PSN. Sony does not check the authenticity of the cards because it is assumed their own developers are not stealing content.

For now, the rumor remains just that, but Sony has sure gotten a lot of press for remaining pretty mum on why their network still remains down after 5 days.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Apr 2011 23:19

borhan9

This is really bad Sony really needed to fix this issue within 38hrs now we just have to wait shameful.

Edited by DVDBack23

"the mediocre teacher tells. the good teacher explains. the superior teacher demonstrates. the great teacher inspires."- William Aruthur Ward

26.4.2011 00:25 #1

oneguy

and I was thinking of getting the "move" too to play online... but I guess I'll put my moneys to better use.

26.4.2011 01:38 #2

Mrguss

Sony Shuts Down PlayStation Network Indefinitely....(4-26-11)

http://bit.ly/e2wMUN

F**k, now I have to get a job !

According to PC World, "External Intrusion" means that it wasn't a DDOS attack, but instead, it's likely the handy work of one individual,.....like (3-15-11):
http://www.scmagazineus.com/i-am-comodo-hacker-iranian-claims/article/199407/#

http://goo.gl/fb/kiajg
http://bit.ly/fTZHyt

+4000

26.4.2011 02:28 #3

KillerBug

So they took down the entire PSN because a few people were stealing crummy PSN games that no one wants anyway? If it were any other company, I would say that was a load of crap because they could just flip a setting and it would be checking...but I can almost see Sony doing this because their engineers forgot where that setting was. Even then, it makes no sense...something like 1% of jailbreakers are using rebug, and jailbreakers are probably less than 1% of all PS3 users...they turned off their ability to sell to everyone, simply to stop 0.001% from being able to download for free? Even assuming that every rebug user was stealing every game, it would still take about two years of people downloading for free using rebug in order to steal the same amount as the lost sales for the first day of the shutdown. Plus, rebug was out and working for a while, and anyone that was downloading every last game like that already got everything that was there as of the start of the shutdown.

So, 4 days lost sales...on one of the biggest weekends to sell online...and no one knows when/if it will come back up. Plus, a userbase that is getting angry because even the most loyal Sony fans know that this extremely long downtime is the decision of sony, not of hackers, jailbreakers, or anything like that...And people say that sony did it to prevent people who were not going to buy the games anyway from downloading them for free?

Like I said, if it were some company that didn't do this kind of thing all the time, I would call you crazy...but it is Sony, so you are probably correct. If Sony owned a TV station, and a man with a knife robbed someone in the parking lot, they would shut down the station for four months while they built a prison wall around the studio...and they would still leave the parking lot unattended.

26.4.2011 03:10 #4

plazma247

I think its possible that rebug also allowed you to do things with psn other than just download games without paying....

as killer just pointed out, they could have put the downtime back another week to avoid easter weekend. If it was just the games getting downloaded im sure the loss the down time has cost them would have justified moving it back.

However assuming rebug allowed for something far more of an issue for sony to take the decision to pull it completely for this amount of time...

The other thing that has surprised me is how silent the other two back stabbing console manufactures have been in regard to the down time... im sure one would take a pop by now and say well our online experience still works blah blah...

26.4.2011 06:11 #5

hendrix04

Originally posted by plazma247: I think its possible that rebug also allowed you to do things with psn other than just download games without paying....

as killer just pointed out, they could have put the downtime back another week to avoid easter weekend. If it was just the games getting downloaded im sure the loss the down time has cost them would have justified moving it back.

However assuming rebug allowed for something far more of an issue for sony to take the decision to pull it completely for this amount of time...

The other thing that has surprised me is how silent the other two back stabbing console manufactures have been in regard to the down time... im sure one would take a pop by now and say well our online experience still works blah blah... Microsoft gave a free weekend of XBOX live last weekend. Nice little FU to sony ;)

26.4.2011 11:21 #6

KillerBug

Microsoft has had their share of issues, and they know that they are living in a glass house. They also know that the people who care about anything they would have to say are the same people who already know whatever they were saying, so it would come off as "I told you so"...when they didn't actually warn anyone. Microsoft are evil bastards, but they have learned a thing or two about how to present themselves in a dignified way and how to choose battles.

As for the Wii, it isn't even in competition with the PS3; if you want Mario and Zelda, you get a Wii...if you want COD, you get a 360 or a PS3 (or a PC). No point starting a mud fight with Sony. Anyway, Nintendo likes to have a friendly face; it wouldn't be their style to begin with.

26.4.2011 13:38 #7

Jemborg

@KillerBug

Nice rant (post #4) but for the very reasons that you mentioned I would say that Sony did not shutdown PSN over Easter because of a few games/dlc. They are greedy but not that stupid.

@Plasma

Apart from the fact that all competing corporations in a capitalist economy "backstab" (do you think $ony is any different?)... M$, Minty, $team, WoW (Activi$ion) and others are probably anxiously going over their network security as we speak.

Originally posted by hendrix04: Microsoft gave a free weekend of XBOX live last weekend. Nice little FU to sony ;) They are offering a gold pass for silver users. They would have planned that stunt for Easter anyway. I doubt it has anything to do with PSN's misfortune as you get a month of gold thrown in with every new X360 purchase.

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Its a lot easier being righteous than right.

26.4.2011 13:40 #8

plazma247

@Jemborg - (do you think $ony is any different) ??

No i was saying i was surprised the other two didnt have a stab and try and drive home the nail, im always suprised given the amount of cross banter that has gone on in recent years in the smart phone market that these three dont call each other more... thats all.

And your probably right the implications of what may have happened behind the iron wall so to speak are not good if what people are starting to conclude is right.

Personally i think the best damage limitation at this point would be to come clean and explain whats happened rather than just more darkness, they have had enough bad press recently and they are losing the war so to speak. This is despite PR overdrive, coming clean, and actually addressing the users reasonably is the best way forward. more silence followed by more silence isnt helping anyone.

26.4.2011 13:51 #9

Jemborg

@Plaz

Yeah, I was a little confused over your wording before.

MrGuss' link is a real eyebrow raiser:
http://goo.gl/fb/kiajg

Like the banks, Sony may not want to reveal what the extent of the infiltration is and how much they have been compromised, they have their shareprice to consider. One thing's for sure, it's not a simple Low Orbit Ion Cannon attack.

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Its a lot easier being righteous than right.

26.4.2011 14:13 #10

1nsan3

i dont play on PSN nor do i buy anything on psn. Hell i dont even GO on psn. Thats what the good old xbox live is for. much better for gamming. psn is just. "there" lol. well not no more. sux to be psn user. now if xbox live went down.... then i might shed a tear.

but hey m$ is stupid but not stupid enough to take down a gamming network that brings in millions just on its own.

Oh well time to go back on xbox live lol. just remember i will be downloading the new COD Blackops map pack, soon while psn gamers are still checking if there online is even up yet lol.

26.4.2011 16:05 #11

Oner

Originally posted by KillerBug: So they took down the entire PSN because a few people were stealing crummy PSN games that no one wants anyway? Care to show us some supporting proof/links as to how "few" of these people there are that you seem to speak so knowledgeably about? And if they are "crummy PSN games" why did they steal them? Can't be so "crummy" after all huh? Seems like a bit of a contradiction to me...

Here is the newest update pertaining to the outage ~ Link 1 Link 2

Search > http://forums.afterdawn.com/search
Rules > http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487
Important Rule > http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/380660

26.4.2011 17:11 #12

Mrguss

LATEST NEWS 4-26-11 (2PM MT...US)

SONY, PS Blog: We don�t have an exact date to share at this moment as to when we will have the services turned on, .....regarding a compromise of personal information.....

http://bit.ly/e2wMUN

+4000

26.4.2011 17:16 #13

GryphB

As usual, blame someone else, then take responsibility for your own faults.

26.4.2011 19:12 #14

Jemborg

This is the latest!

Originally posted by Jemborg: Originally posted by Jemborg: ..One thing's for sure, it's not a simple Low Orbit Ion Cannon attack. Well well, so what do you know? All the news reports including the Aust Federal Fraud squad say it's CC and identity theft on a massive scale. Millions of accounts.

I did make a comment on how I disliked CC details being held by $ony (and M$ etc.) simply because it made it easy for kids to steal from Mum and Dad. This is the upshot...

I came close to recommending everybody should change their CC details ~ which the cops are now doing. Too bloody late to worry about all your personal details e.g. birthday, home address etc.

I really do blame Sony here... dickheads!

PS: I still think it may have originated from Russia. But I only thought it may have been blackmail because we were led to believe it was purely a LOIC DOS attack (which was probably the cover).
@Oner, KillerBugs post #4 was patently rhetorical. You know how he is... no point in taking him to task over it.
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Its a lot easier being righteous than right.

27.4.2011 05:03 #15

hk2

always question what Sony says if its true or not, they have continuously lied to the public, why do you think they would now be telling the truth, about anything?

29.4.2011 17:06 #16

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