Beware the PSP trojan

Paul · 07-10-2005, 10:19

EL Reg

Quote:

PSP users are being urged to beware of a Trojan which, once executed, turns their games gizmo into little more than an expensive book weight. The (PlayStation Portable) PSP Brick Trojan poses as a utility that allows gamers to run homebrew apps or pirated games.
The latest version 2.0 of the PSP firmware stops the execution of custom code on the device. But after the discovery of a buffer overflow in version 2.0 of the PSP firmware, a firmware downgrade to 1.50 became the "Holy Grail" of PSP homebrew development.
Various firmware dowgrade tools sprung up. But one of the utilities has turned out to be a Trojan that renders the PSP unusable. The malware poses as software from the "PSP Team". In reality the code will remove important system files from the flash which makes the system unbootable or a brick, as gamers call it.
Eric Chien of Symantec said it would be difficult to recover an infected device. Some gamers have been hit after downloading the malware from gaming forums and running it on their PSP. "The Trojan can't be executed by accident. PSP users will only get infected if they attempt to modify or patch their device with malicious code," he said. Ã‚Â®

Just a heads up for any PSP users that like to tinker with their equipment

**Jefferson T** · 07-10-2005, 10:20

Thanks for that - I think I'll stear clear of homebrew stuff for now.

Paul · 07-10-2005, 10:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by dilligaf1701

Thanks for that - I think I'll stear clear of homebrew stuff for now.

Probably the safest thing for now, wonder how many will be caught out though

mcmanic · 07-10-2005, 21:44

Sony scare tactic i bet anything, they don't like homebrew, they don't want you downgrade using a perfectly fine downgrader. Sony fighting a never ending battle

**Jefferson T** · 07-10-2005, 21:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcmanic

Sony scare tactic i bet anything, they don't like homebrew, they don't want you downgrade using a perfectly fine downgrader. Sony fighting a never ending battle

Tell you what - you try it and let us know how you get on

mcmanic · 08-10-2005, 08:15

i have, its fine, upgraded My Uk to 2.0, then downgraded to 1.5, now enjoying all them snes and megadrive games on my PSP

**Jefferson T** · 08-10-2005, 08:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcmanic

i have, its fine, upgraded My Uk to 2.0, then downgraded to 1.5, now enjoying all them snes and megadrive games on my PSP

Why did you use a trojan on your psp? By the way I'm on about the trojan version NOT the other downgrader, because you do, of course, know there are two files floating about.

mcmanic · 08-10-2005, 19:10

Sony strikes again

**Jefferson T** · 08-10-2005, 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcmanic

Sony strikes again

Ah - ok. Seeing as you don't know, I'll leave you to it.

**Jefferson T** · 20-10-2005, 18:25

As an addon for those who think this is a 'sony scare tactic' or just a 'sony strikes again' thing....

I found this page

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000910064268/

On it is also a video of a psp having this trojan applied to it.

Hom3r · 20-10-2005, 19:35

Nice video clip

punky · 20-10-2005, 20:50

Can't understand why someone would ruin a $250 machine deliberately. Was there really a need to do it?
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I did read somewhere that Sony will restore bricked PSPs for $150, but not sure if how happy they'll be with one like that. The service is supposed to be for genuine upgrades that crash.

**Jefferson T** · 20-10-2005, 20:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by punky

Can't understand why someone would ruin a $250 machine deliberately. Was there really a need to do it?
__________________

I did read somewhere that Sony will restore bricked PSPs for $150, but not sure if how happy they'll be with one like that. The service is supposed to be for genuine upgrades that crash.

Well it certainly did crash at the end

And, you're right, It did seem a bit ott.

edit - come to think of it - my psp went odd a couple of weeks ago, it locked up and when it restarted it had some odd message about the system being corrupted and needing to press the circle button to restore settings. Which I did and it's been ok since.