Hackers break Xbox security

New security measures implemented in a recent Xbox hardware update have been broken by hackers less than three weeks after the revised consoles hit the shelves, allowing mod chip groups to update their products for compatibility with the new hardware.

TheRegister reports that the complex new security system, which was thought to disable the operation of all previously existing mod chips, was broken in under a week of work by a UK-based group of enthusiasts keen to get the Linux operating system running on Xbox hardware. The new system was rolled out by Microsoft along with a number of other hardware changes designed to cut the manufacturing costs of the console.

The programmers responsible for the hack now fully expect Microsoft to respond by updating the Xbox yet again, fixing the loophole they used to compromise the security of the platform. It seems likely that this will become a regular cycle for the Xbox, as Microsoft`s engineers race to keep the console`s protection systems one step ahead of hackers.

Interestingly, several of the hackers working on Xbox mod chips and operating system projects have expressed the view that the evolving Xbox security is seen by Microsoft as a testbed for Palladium - a hugely controversial proposal to integrate copy protection into the hardware of future PCs, making it impossible to copy digital media such as music, videos or even documents without the appropriate authorisation. [More at The Register]

Microsoft and Japan`s Matsushita Electric Industrial, maker of Panasonic goods, said today they have developed a way to make PCs and consumer electronic devices more compatible, reports Reuters. The new technology, called HighMAT, offers a standardised way for CD and DVD players to read recordable disks so that music and photos can be transferred more easily to and from personal computers.

"It`s clear to us that PCs and consumer electronics products will continue to work more and more closely in the future," Matsushita MD Fumio Ohtsubo said.

Fuji Photo Film, Japan`s biggest maker of photographic films and a maker of digital cameras, will support the new technology in future versions of its products.