Update: this is now fixed, though users will need to take a long route to the update. Oculus officially confirmed that the problem was an expired software certificate, which caused further problems because it also wonked the usual updater.

I keep telling you: if you want to jam with the console cowboys in cyberspace, you’ve gotta roll your own goggs. These megacorp-supplied cybergoggles are controlled by The Man, the very shadowy organisations you should be jacking in to undermine. The vulnerability of megacorp hardware was revealed today when technomancers across the globe woke up to discover the Oculus software throwing up an error message, leaving Rift headsets effectively broken. Oculus say they’re aware of this and are trying to fix it. If you’re hoping to escape meatspace tonight and enter a data trance, you might want a backup plan.

Rifters trying to jack in now are receiving “Can’t Reach Oculus Runtime Service” error messages, blocking their goggs from working, as VRFocus report. Curious planet-hackers have discovered it appears to be a problem with an expired security certificate on a key file.

Those who urgently need to ride datawaves in cyberspace can get around this by setting their Windows time back a few days, though that can make other software freak out so perhaps be wary.

“We are aware of and actively investigating an issue impacting ability to access Rift software,” Oculus said in a message posted at 4:59pm. “Our teams apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing you and appreciate your patience while we work on a resolution.”

This time, it’s only an error message making goggs stop. Next time, who knows: they could deploy Black ICE to fry your lobes. Resist the megacorps.