There’s no game gaming companies hate to play more than cat and mouse with hackers. Proving once again that no gaming hardware is hack-proof, Eurogamer has learned that hacker Yifan Lu has found an exploit in Sony’s (SNE) PS Vita handheld that will open doors to hackers to develop unapproved applications and even pirate software. Lu’s exploit is reportedly based on another hacker’s work — the Half-Byte Loader that allows homebrew on the PlayStation Portable — and is the first real hack for the Vita since it launched in December.
Whereas last generation’s Nintendo DS and PSP were plagued with piracy due to bountiful firmware exploits, Sony’s Vita and Nintendo’s (SNE) 3DS have remained largely safe from piracy since their respective launches. Although Lu says he will try his best to ensure the exploit allows only legitimate homebrew code to run, he also said on Twitter that there’s no telling what others will do once his exploit is made public.
