Anyone looking for news about console jailbreaking and hacking will quickly see that the spotlight is on the Nintendo Switch, but that doesn't mean other platforms are idle. Recently, the combined work of several hackers has produced an exploit for firmware build 4.55 on the PlayStation 4, which enables running both homebrew programs and "backups". Consoles running the latest update are already immune, but all eyes are now on Sony…
As someone who sits in front of a computer to play, I have to admit that, from a certain point of view, video game piracy has lost some of its meaning. On one hand, Steam, Good Old Games, Humble Bundle and other online stores give us access to top-tier titles at impressive discounts (not counting special events that drop prices even further), and on the other hand, many of the biggest online games are Free to Play. The story is very different in the console world, though. A year ago we talked about the first hacks on the Nintendo Switch and the mods that let you load games onto the Classic consoles (NES and Super NES), but the latest news takes us to Sony's territory, and by extension, to the PlayStation 4.
The exploit and its creators
Over the past few days, an exploit compatible with firmware 4.55 has been circulating, opening the doors to running homebrew software and "backups". It all started when the enthusiast "Qwertyoruiop" published the exploit, followed by a complete functional implementation from developer "SpecterDev", and finally the "Holy Grail" payload by "m0rph3us1987", named without much subtlety. The two videos shared here show the kind of behavior you can expect from a hacked console.
What about Sony?
That said, the question is: how quickly will Sony respond? Actually, everything is in its favor. The latest firmware for the PlayStation 4 is 5.05 (released last January 18), and there is no way to downgrade once you install a build higher than 4.05, so the first step has already been taken. At the same time, m0rph3us1987 confirmed that he will not modify Holy Grail to run games from external hard drives. Still, the genie is out of the bottle, and it's only a matter of time before other similar tools appear. The cat and mouse.
