Article Title: PS4 4.50 Hack Rumor

Original Release Date: Feb 15th. 2017

Author: Wololo

Source: Wololo

Quote via WOLOLO:

User racer0018 on scene website psxhax claims that he is in contact with a group of hackers working on PS4 exploits. The hackers allegedly are working on an exploit that works on the still-in-beta PS4 firmware 4.50.

Has PS4 4.50 already been hacked?

According to racer0018, the group has been looking for beta testers, who are comfortable with soldering a device on their PS4, with the potential risk of a brick. Additionally, candidates for the beta-tester position need to have a PS4 running the latest PS4 firmware, firmware 4.50, which is still in beta. racer0018 states:

Now what will be needed from this person. There is a couple of things that will be needed. 1st we will send you a device that has to be soldered onto the system, this will be done in 14 wires that is soldered onto the machine and then hooked to a USB cable to a computer.

We will also send you a program in python that has to be ran on the computer during this test. It will then run and will make a log file for that program on your computer and then you take and send that log file to the email we provide and that is about it.

There are lots of red flags with this announce. First of all, racer0018 himself. He’s a veteran of the PS3 scene with a mixed track record. The scener used to provide hardware mods for the PS3, with mixed satisfaction results from his customers. Some at the time would only go to him, praising the quality of his work, others felt they were cheated and never got their console back. It’s undeniable racer0018 has some hardware knowledge of the PS3 and the PS4, which could have given him the right connections. But none of his work has been ever connected to groundbreaking discoveries, racer I see it as a successful implementation of actual hackers’ work.

Secondly, the site he chose to make his announce. I hate to point fingers at other scene sites, but psxhax is one of the sites that always leaves me confused: these guys know what they are talking about to some extent, yet they also don’t hesitate to spread unverified rumors or complete lies without blinking. I’ve indirectly called them out several times on the quality of their articles, and have yet to see any improvement on their end. I have to assume nobody even tried to get some proof from racer00188 or from the hacking group he is in touch with. I’d love to be proven wrong, of course. Psxhax is also owned by the same people who own ps3news dot com, a site infamously known for the poor quality of its articles regarding the PS3 scene back in the days.

Last but not least, in my experience, legit hackers do not randomly ask for beta testers on a public forum. The people who can exploit consoles also typically know enough trusted people for their tests that they do not need to ask publicly for help. They also usually already have access to most of the hardware needed to perform their test, either directly or through their contacts.

So, we have a scener with a mixed track record, making a claim of an upcoming PS4 hack without a single proof, on a site with a mixed track record. Don’t get me wrong, again, I’d love to be proven wrong (I have a PS4 phat that’s been sitting on firmware 4.05 for a few months now, waiting for some public hack), but for now I’d qualify this as highly dubious at best.

Besides the claim of a PS4 hack, racer0018 states that people who join the team as beta testers would gain access to a private server containing information on Wii U and Xbox One hacks as well. Racer0018 had already said on the same site, 2 months ago, that the Xbox One was getting close to being hacked.

Of course feel free to get in touch with them and see if you can get in, but if anything I would advise to proceed carefully with anyone who asks you to provide them with anything coming from your PS4, in particular logs. Sony have a bad history of putting credentials and other critical information unencrypted on their systems.

We have contacted the owners of psxhax on social media asking for some kind of proof. I will update this article if they get back to us. Whether this turns out to be true or false, we’ll keep our PS4 Jailbreak page up to date.