Google engineers found a way to play emulated PlayStation Portable (PSP) games on Sony’s PlayStation Portal. After reporting the exploit to everyone, they also reported it to Sony. Sony released a patch to prevent users from using this vulnerability. Many are mad at them for giving it up to the company, but they argue it’s responsible disclosure.
The PlayStation Portal was originally created as a handheld streaming device for PlayStation 5 games. Researchers Andy Nguyen and Calle Svensson discovered a method to run the PPSSPP emulator on it. This is basically a hack, but it was done with the best intentions. For those who don’t know what PPSSPP is, that’s what you’d use on your phone to play PSP games.
This made it possible to play PSP games directly on the Portal without needing a Wi-Fi connection or a PS5 for streaming. Nguyen clarified that the hack was purely software-based, removing the need for any hardware modifications. They tweeted that this could be done through hacking the device, but they did not explain how. Hacking is given a bad name, but some people intentionally break into devices to make them safer or for research purposes. This is what the team did.
After proving the flaw, many thought Nguyen and his team would show how to do it, but that’s not what happened. Instead, they decided to inform Sony about the vulnerability. This responsible move resulted in a software update (version 2.06) that fixed the loophole. As a result, the PlayStation Portal is no longer usable for local PSP emulation in its current form.
Some commenters are angry if you go to the original tweet and even the one where the fix is stated. Some users have expressed disappointment, stating that the hack actually improved the PlayStation Portal by introducing offline functionality.
Some people think the engineers did the right thing by not releasing the exploit, saying it’s important to handle security risks responsibly. Nguyen supported the team’s decision, saying publicizing the exploit would have made little difference. He believes Sony would have had to fix the issue anyway, and reporting it responsibly probably made the process faster.
You can say what you want, but it’s a hack at the end of the day. As Google engineers, the team is more likely to help the software developers out than to get internet clout for releasing a how-to. However, the whole outcry shows how much people really want to be able to do what they want with hardware. That’s an argument in itself because how much do you own hardware that is continually being updated for you? We can’t answer that, but we’d imagine that a lot of people are mad that they fixed this.