Hacking 3DS Virus. Possible?

[Arek1985]

If Nintendo sets up decent security for the system it shouldn't be possible. But if we look at Nintendo's track record for security it is not that good.

I'm sure there's probably some check that the system would do while in bark mode to see if it is a legitimate system menu. Then again looking at the Wii can't say it matters what system menu you're on if the 3DS uses something similar to IOSes. Hopefully Nintendo has learned from the large security holes they left with the Wii.

Nintendo may claim that the 3DS will be unhackable, but only time will tell. I say the only way we'll know is when someone has the 3DS in their hands.

 

[chyyran]

If Nintendo sets up decent security for the system it shouldn't be possible. But if we look at Nintendo's track record for security it is not that good.

I'm sure there's probably some check that the system would do while in bark mode to see if it is a legitimate system menu. Then again looking at the Wii can't say it matters what system menu you're on if the 3DS uses something similar to IOSes. Hopefully Nintendo has learned from the large security holes they left with the Wii.

Nintendo may claim that the 3DS will be unhackable, but only time will tell. I say the only way we'll know is when someone has the 3DS in their hands.

Nothing, And let me stress that, NOTHINGis unhackable. It just takes time.

 

[JonthanD]

I will use this thread to say, yes its possible there could be a virus for the 3DS or any other computer (really all consoles are computers after a fashion.)

I will also make another prediction here.

You heard it here first, the first exploit for the 3DS will most likely be found in some sort of buffer overflow exploit using Wii connectivity.

 

[dsfanatic5]

Seriously, you're worried about getting a virus on your 3DS? Shit, I'm just worried about getting a system when it launches. I don't live in a bustling city, where everyone is going to share their info with me, and crap if I even take my $300 investment into public (where I'm likely to be mugged for my belongings), I don't want people connecting to me. Nintendo's model makes sense in a busy Japanese city, but doesn't appeal to me at all.

The worst that could happen is somehow the "Street Pass" causes your 3DS to update to the latest firmare. Personally, I'm going to turn my settings OFF, much like WiiConnect 24, because I like to be in control of my updates. If the 3DS doesn't have this level of control, I'll just switch the WiFi slider to OFF, and update on my own agenda.

 

[DiscostewSM]

Nothing, And let me stress that, NOTHINGis unhackable. It just takes time.

As security gets better, it will take longer for a device to get hacked, even by the best. Theoretically, nothing is unhackable, but realistically, it will come to a point in time that even the best hackers will not be able to hack a device within their lifetime.

 

[trumpet-205]

Nothing, And let me stress that, NOTHINGis unhackable. It just takes time.

As security gets better, it will take longer for a device to get hacked, even by the best. Theoretically, nothing is unhackable, but realistically, it will come to a point in time that even the best hackers will not be able to hack a device within their lifetime.

As security gets better, so will hacking technique. I'm sure there are new hackers with new creative idea ready.

 

[FAST6191]

I agree in some ways and disagree in others. I will certainly say some of the tools and techniques I have at my disposal even 5 years ago would have made even the corporation level reverse engineers turn their head and take notice (cheap debuggers that work up to several hundred megahertz, scopes with serious debugging/logging capability that also hook up to computers, whatever is going on in programmable chips these days- time was an FPGA dev kit would have cost thousands- I can have what amounts to a better pic and programmer here for the price of a night out from just about any electronics shop and said kits are even better now, chip decapping for next to nothing and microscopes to match and techniques to generate a full circuit design along with the return of hardware techniques (glitching, superclocking, power analysis and so forth)).

On the flipside though what was one a few tens of megahertz is now nearing a gigahertz and security and/or crypto is getting better/more pervasive all the time.

 

[Rydian]

There's still fun techniques like cold-boot attacks.

http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/

Contrary to popular assumption, DRAMs used in most modern computers retain their contents for seconds to minutes after power is lost, even at operating temperatures and even if removed from a motherboard. Although DRAMs become less reliable when they are not refreshed, they are not immediately erased, and their contents persist sufficiently for malicious (or forensic) acquisition of usable full-system memory images. We show that this phenomenon limits the ability of an operating system to protect cryptographic key material from an attacker with physical access. We use cold reboots to mount attacks on popular disk encryption systems — BitLocker, FileVault, dm-crypt, and TrueCrypt — using no special devices or materials. We experimentally characterize the extent and predictability of memory remanence and report that remanence times can be increased dramatically with simple techniques. We offer new algorithms for finding cryptographic keys in memory images and for correcting errors caused by bit decay. Though we discuss several strategies for partially mitigating these risks, we know of no simple remedy that would eliminate them.

There's some new techniques to combat it, though.

 

[BobTheJoeBob]

i believe the only reason to make a virus for 3ds is to collect credit card information or steal 3ds shopping accounts. anyone that hacks the 3ds won't have that information in their system, because they steal games and people that don't hack it have up-to-date firmware, then there is no point for anyone to make viruses. and there wont be enough people that fall in the gray area to be able to spread the virus

There are some bored people out there. They'll make a virus just for the sake of bricking ones 3DS.

 

[Deleted User]

Virus =/= Hack

Nothing is impossible, Ninty will say 3ds is unhackable, Ninty will block Virus, Ninty will pay for making that feature.

but we will mostly need the 3ds's keys for it which we probaply won't get that easily (we don't even have all of the wii yet)

With people with your philosophy, 3DS will be "unhackeable".

An Exploit is possible, but they only have a small code (he one for tag mode) in which they propably won't find more than one exploit which will be fixed with the next update. The only effective way for a virus will be a hardcoded, exploitable bug which mostly won't be found.

QUOTE(dark2568 @ Oct 30 2010, 07:47 PM)

The 3DS is like wii, if wii don´t get virus, the 3DS doesn´t get too.I belive it.

The ds has viruses (flashme clones)
The wii has viruses (malicious wads)
The dsi isn't hacked yet, but you can say that the dsi xl has a virus with nesds on a dstwo
The 3ds will also get one

 

[Fishaman P]

For the poll, you forgot "Yes; Nintendo will try to block it, but as always, will FAIL."

 

[pasc]

If I remember correctly the adhoc protocol for the normal DS wasn't even hacked completly yet
since it is RSA protected.

I guess its just buying your games

.

I for one think that some games are warranting a buy, so when I get a 3DS next year I'll just buy what I want.

(Come to think of it, there only were about 5-10 games I would have really bought for the DS if I had to, so....

 

[nutella]

Why do people just assume hackers are going to hack the 3DS anyway? Yes, nothing is impossible, but many things are impossible in practice. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here.

 

[DeadLocked]

anything is possible even if it has to have it's own custom firmware to runa virus, but i doubt anyone would bother writing a virus, pirates/hackers/coders gotta stick together against the machine

 

[KingVamp]

For the poll, you forgot "Yes; Nintendo will try to block it, but as always, will FAIL."

So you are saying we will all have viruses in our 3DS?

 

[Rydian]

The ds has viruses (flashme clones)
The wii has viruses (malicious wads)
The dsi isn't hacked yet, but you can say that the dsi xl has a virus with nesds on a dstwo
The 3ds will also get one

Those aren't viruses. Viruses self-replicate and spread themselves.

 

[Deleted User]

The ds has viruses (flashme clones)
The wii has viruses (malicious wads)
The dsi isn't hacked yet, but you can say that the dsi xl has a virus with nesds on a dstwo
The 3ds will also get one

Those aren't viruses. Viruses self-replicate and spread themselves.

That is true.... But if on online play it crashes games permanently and brick the 3DS that would be frightening. It is possible but unlikely.

 

[shadowsfm]

Why do people just assume hackers are going to hack the 3DS anyway? Yes, nothing is impossible, but many things are impossible in practice. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here.

the same reason why just about the whole gaming industry is interested in working on the 3DS. its the next big thing. exciting.

 

[nutella]

Why do people just assume hackers are going to hack the 3DS anyway? Yes, nothing is impossible, but many things are impossible in practice. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here.

the same reason why just about the whole gaming industry is interested in working on the 3DS. its the next big thing. exciting.

So you're saying that it will be hacked because it's new technology? What flawed logic. All I'm saying is that this is such a specific question that is not worth speculating on for the time being. I mean for Christ's sakes, how many viruses did you see on the DS or Wii?

 

[notmeanymore]

Why do people just assume hackers are going to hack the 3DS anyway? Yes, nothing is impossible, but many things are impossible in practice. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here.

the same reason why just about the whole gaming industry is interested in working on the 3DS. its the next big thing. exciting.

So you're saying that it will be hacked because it's new technology? What flawed logic. All I'm saying is that this is such a specific question that is not worth speculating on for the time being. I mean for Christ's sakes, how many viruses did you see on the DS or Wii?

That's the point. The 3DS is the first system that such self-replication would be possible on. The 3DS has StreetPass, and if this feature also installs system updates, then a virus would be a cinch to spread.

This is all speculation, though. When the 3DS comes out, we'll find out exactly what StreetPass does and does not do.