Samsung ATIV S hack paves the way for pirated games on WP8

[alv3st3r]

I don't know if its appropriate to post this or not. If its against the rules then mods please feel free to delete the thread.

The new vulnerability found in Samsung ATIV S has allowed the hackers to download and repack Windows Phone 8 games for distribution and installation using WP8 XAP installation tools. The XAPs can then be installed on other handsets like Nokia?s Windows Phones.

The games from the ATIV S are repacked and then deployed on non-hacked Windows Phone 8 handsets. More than 10 games have already been cracked in this way and the number is sure to explode in the future.

So what do you think guys? Will this piracy increase Windows Phone adoption or will it kill the market for developers?

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

I seriously doubt increases ability of piracy will make the os popular, especially since it is far easier to do so on android.

 

[omgitsnick]

There will always be hackers in every platform, but usually their primary intention is to unlock the software and hardware's full potential. Piracy is sadly a by-product of the process. Android obviously has the highest number of piracy, because it's just that easy. WP and iOS are pretty equal in terms of unlocking the device. In WP, it's pretty easy to dev-unlock with a dreamspark account and this is enough to sideload apps without OEM restrictions, while iOS has active groups of jailbreakers which is worry-free. Though if you have money to spare you could pay for the dev account and go from there. Cracking apps is another story. Again, android dominates this criteria, iOS comes in second, and WP last. Sadly, the sloppy work of Samsung with their unsecure bootloaders, granted hackers to gain interop-unlock and used this exploit for piracy.

I remember the time when Xbox games were hacked and pirated, allowing achievements to go through without purchasing the app, and a simple registry edit allowed non-Gold users to enable messaging feature in WP7. There was also a cheat engine that was made for Xbox games. And this was frustrating as this does not only affects the developer, but also the Xbox Live system.

 

[alv3st3r]

Sadly, the sloppy work of Samsung with their unsecure bootloaders, granted hackers to gain interop-unlock and used this exploit for piracy.

I agree with your statement here but nothing is ever foolproof and impenetrable. It was bound to happen eventually.