Sony issues bans to users with cracked PS3

Sony has started banning PSN users with a cracked PS3 console. Meanwhile, a hacker claims that Sony is storing personal information of PSN users, including unencrypted credit card numbers.

Sony has declared war on users who jailbroken the PlayStation 3 cracked. In a blog post, Jeff Rubenstein, social media manager at Sony, reports that the console manufacturer will issue permanent bans to PS3 users who have cracked their console. As a result, gamers with a jailbroken console would no longer have access to patches and updates, among other things, and would also no longer be able to play against other PS3 owners. The company calls on PS3 users to immediately remove software hacks or hardware modifications to avoid a ban. By now, Sony seems to be started handing out the first bans.

In Rubenstein’s posting, Sony states that it is forced to take this step to ‘protect our market’ and to monitor the gaming experience of ‘honest gamers’. After cracking the PlayStation 3, the console manufacturer has started various lawsuits against hackers who published information about this online. The recently released firmware 3.56 also contains a rootkit.

Meanwhile claims a hacker, who wishes to remain anonymous, that he decrypted the network traffic between the PlayStation 3 consoles and the PlayStation Network and encountered remarkable things in the data exchange. For example, a PS3 would send personal data, including credit card numbers, in plain text to Sony’s servers. This information would be updated with each new PSN sign-up.

The hacker also states that system data is also forwarded to PSN, including information about the connected USB devices and the firmware version, and that Sony actively monitors message traffic on PSN. However, by decrypting the PSN traffic, the hacker would also be able to download games and downloadable content without payment.