Security - Tevine

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Dark_Alex’s POPSloader plugin (for 3.10 OE)

Posted by multippt

A few days after Dark_Alex said there won’t be a 3.11 custom firmware, he decided to release a special plugin that provides some features 3.11 have. This plugin allows a 3.10 OE PSP to play Playstation 1 games (in POPS format) made for 3.11 PSPs.

In order to use the plugin, download it, and extract the plugin to the appropriate folder in your PSP. After that, access the “Recovery” mode on your PSP, and enable the plugin.

Of course, as a precautionary measure, always read the “readme”.

Via QJ.net

Posted in Security

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Posted on 12 February

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Sony owned (again) - Firmware 3.11 decrypted (within day 0)

Posted by multippt

The moment Sony released its firmware, the homebrew community is up on its feet again to do some work… except maybe this time, there isn’t any work to do - PSP firmware 3.11 is decrypted by… the SAME decrypter (from Team C+D) for 3.10.

Not to mention, 3.10 was decrypted within day 0 as well. The steps of decrypting this firmware is the same as the method for decrypting 3.10:

1)Extract the PSAR file from the EBOOT (*.PBP) via a EBOOT extractor (like PBP unpacker on your computer)
2)Place this extracted file on the root of the memory stick
3)Copy the homebrew application files (psar_dump2 and psar_dump2%) into the appropriate game folder
4)Run it from your PSP.
5)Just tinker around with the dumper… and the firmware is decrypted!

Of course, at the moment, there is not much you can do with the decrypted firmware at the moment. By all means, do expect 3.11 OE (well… if there is any feature Dark_Alex would want to add from 3.11 to his current custom firmware).

Via QJ.net Forums

Posted in Security

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Posted on 8 February

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Bizarre PSP mod adds a cooling fan, utility in question

Posted by signup

The overheating syndrome has struck just about every area of consumer electronics possible, and while spinning that UMD might get your fingertips ever-so-toasty, we haven’t heard any mass outcries of PSPs getting hot enough to cook breakfast on, but apparently none of that matters. In a rare case of besting an already questionable mod just days ago, this DIY installation is a real head scratcher, as Acidmods details how to install an actual cooling fan onto the rear of your Sony handheld. Your guess is as good as ours as to why this hack-job is actually beneifical, but if your only alternative is obliterating your PSP with a sword, we guess we’ll have to recommend you hop on over and get your hot gluing on — but only after you’ve mastered the art of stuffing three AAA cells into its battery pack, cool?

Can be found : http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/07/bizarre-psp-mod-adds-a-cooling-fan-utility-in-question/

Posted in Gadgets, Security

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Posted on 7 February

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DNS Attack: Only a Warning Shot?

Posted by signup

FEBRUARY 7, 2007 | An attack on the Internet infrastructure yesterday may signal a hint of bigger things to come. The distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack that temporarily crippled — but didn’t take down — two of the Internet’s 13 Domain Name System (DNS) root servers was likely a test-run for a potentially larger and more disruptive attack, researchers say.

This was the latest in a series of DDOS attacks on DNS servers that began late last year, when DNS providers EveryDNS and EasyDNS each were separately knocked offline by attacks. Experts had predicted it was only a matter of time before botnet operators hit a bigger and higher-profile DNS target, and that’s just what happened yesterday, they say.

The attackers targeted five of the Internet’s DNS root name servers, using bots or zombified computers to execute the DDOS attack. Two of the root name servers eventually dropped 90 percent of their DNS query traffic, but the remaining servers kept the service operational. (See DNS Attacks on the Rise and DNS Service Under DDOS Attack .)

“Yesterday’s attack was likely a precursor to a larger attack. The rise of DNS attacks in the last year has been worrisome,” says David Ulevitch, CEO of OpenDNS, and founder of EveryDNS, both DNS services. “I believe the attack yesterday and the night before were tests to see how far someone could push the limits.”

Ulevitch says the attackers split their attack capacity among a half-dozen or so targets. “Their overall DDOS capacity is significant, and is something to pay attention to,” he says.

DNS root servers basically answer queries in the DNS infrastructure, which translates a computer’s “human-readable” domain name into its machine-readable IP address.

The attackers used an army of bots from around the globe to hammer the servers with bogus and abnormally large DNS requests — partially formed DNS messages of over 350 bytes each, according to a report from the ISC. The majority of the traffic came from nodes in Seoul (61 percent of the attack traffic) and Beijing (18 percent). Another 13 percent originated from nodes in San Francisco and another 7 percent elsewhere, according to ISC numbers.

The good news is investigators have been able to isolate many of the IP addresses of the offending machines and will therefore be able to shut down the botnet behind it all, Ulevitch notes. “The botnet operator will likely not be found, but at least he or she will have to start all over back at square one,” he says.

Still, there’s no way to be sure the attacker or attackers don’t have other armies waiting in the wings to launch new and more aggressive attacks. This one only hit about a third of the DNS servers — a larger attack using bigger armies could be more damaging to the Net.

“This attack is a strange one,” says Craig Labovitz, director of engineering at Arbor Networks. “This has some people scratching their heads. It has some of the earmarks of a trial run, but it wasn’t insignificant enough to fly under the radar. It was fairly large and disruptive.”

But a scarier prospect is what such an attack could do if aimed at a business. The distributed and protected nature of the root servers kept the attack at bay. “How many midsize to large enterprises do you know that have 13 highly redundant data centers with highly redundant DNS servers?” says Paul Parisi, CTO for DNSstuff.com. “I’m worried about the corporate environment… This proves the technology is out there and can be leveraged autonomously.

“It would be trivial for an aggravated hacker to do serious damage to a company,” Parisi continued. DDOS attacks are not only annoyances and service disruptions, but often are used as a distraction or cover for a “backdoor” attack, where an attacker can infect or steal data.

The saving grace for the DNS root servers in yesterday’s attack was “anycasting” — the streaming of DNS queries to multiple servers so they don’t get lost or jammed up at a given server. “Anycasting is tremendously helpful, but it hasn’t trickled into all of corporate America yet,” Parisi says.

The servers were also bulked up and overbuilt to handle heavy loads, leaving end users blissfully ignorant of the attack. Several DNS root operators had added anycasting and redundancy to their servers in the wake of a similar, but more damaging, DDOS attack nearly five years ago.

But the underlying problem isn’t really DNS: It’s the pervasiveness of botnets, which automate and broaden these kinds of attacks. “Networks need to stop letting botnets run rampant across their backbones,” OpenDNS’s Ulevitch says. And “end users need to be running up-to-date antivirus software. Software manufacturers need to write better code. There are a hundred things that need to be done. And unfortunately, none of them are going to happen anytime soon.”

Arbor’s Labovitz says he’s worried what the firepower of these botnets, many which contain ten or hundreds of thousands of machines, could to the Internet infrastructure if they were used against it. “The firepower is daunting to say the least,” he says.

Posted in Internet, Security

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Posted on 7 February

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Dark_AleX’s 3.10 OE updated to A’ (Rev 2)

Posted by signup

Dark_AleX has just released a bugfix version of his Open Edition custom firmware, 3.10 OE-A’. As expected, the A2 release is a small update which fixes a simple bug in games like Metal Slug 6 and the others. This bug was because the static ELF wasn’t being patched correctly in some cases.

There’s nothing else apart from that, so if those selected games aren’t in your list, you can skip this update altogether. Though, if he releases a new update (rev 3) and you have to upgrade to it, getting this latest version will be a safer option. Anyways, here’s the file. Thanks to vb_master/vulpix for the heads-up!

[Dark_AleX's 3.10 OE-A']

(Source from http://pspupdates.qj.net/Dark-AleX-s-3-10-OE-updated-to-A-Rev-2-/pg/49/aid/81935

Posted in Security

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Posted on 6 February

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Windows Vista has a glitch?

Posted by multippt

A “vulnerability” has been reported to Microsoft regarding Windows Vista. OF course, such news would scare some Microsoft enthusiasts into thinking that Windows Vista was “cracked” in a few days from release. Nevertheless, a vulnerability is still a vulnerability. Windows Vista, touted for its improved security, has the well known speech-recognition feature that allows you to do things on Windows Vista, like deleting files, copying files, shutting down the computer, “typing” out text… verbally.

Now then, what happens if one person crafts an ordinary audio file that when played, “says” out some instructions to delete or copy files? If the microphone happens to be “always on” and the loudspeaker being loud enough, this simple exploit may make you day very unfortunate. Of course, this exploit, or loophole, is not yet exploited by some nasty people. However, it is proven to work. The most fortunate thing is that, this exploit will probably not work very well on a normal computer user, since the user would obviously hear the “malicious” soundtrack being played, and be able to prevent it.

Microsoft is now attempting to fix this “exploit”.

Via BBC news

Posted in Security

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Posted on 2 February

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PSP firmware 3.10 decrypted!

Posted by multippt

if you thought homebrew on 3.10 would be doomed since Sony managed to tweak its updater differently, think again. Team C+D has been able to create a decrypter for this special firmware, within less than a day after 3.10 is released (really!…)!

Now all it takes is for some magic from Dark_Alex (3.10 OE anybody?), Mathieulh, Booster (creator of Devhook [firmware emulation]) and the Noobz team (eloader on 3.10?). All these now made possibly possible with this decrypter.

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Posted on 1 February