14 DAY TRIAL // After quite a bit of waiting, during which PlayStation 3 pirates have been running amok on the platform, Sony has just issued a new mandatory firmware update for its home console.
In case you forgot, hackers discovered the master decryption key of the PlayStation 3, which allowed them to "sign" any type of software as being legitimate and were able to produce customized firmware versions that allowed homebrew and pirated games on the Sony console.
Now, after the company revealed several weeks ago that it was investigating those security issues, a new firmware update has just been deployed onto the PlayStation Network.
As usual, Sony is secretive and only revealed that, "This is a minor update that adds a security patch," through the voice of Eric Lempel, VP of Network Operations for Sony Computer Entertainment America.
The new firmware update takes the console to version 3.56.
The previous one, v 3.55, had the same description and targeted an exploit that allowed hackers to downgrade their firmware versions to older ones, which were vulnerable to running jailbreak software and pirated games.
What's more, according to a rumor on Kotaku, it seems that Sony is looking elsewhere to secure its console once more, instead of using the old decryption key which was leaked.
As such, the company wants to ship unique serial numbers with the future PlayStation 3 games, similar to how PC games are being sold.
Sadly for the company, serial keys aren't actually a big hurdle for pirates, as they're cracked within minutes on the PC platform, through the use of generators that produce authentic keys.
As of yet, the key report is still a rumor, with Sony not confirming anything, but the new firmware is very real, and will be automatically downloaded once you connect your console to the web.