Isn't Calling Something Unhackable Like Begging People To Hack You?
from the just-saying... dept
Generally speaking, any bit of technology is “hackable” in some sense — whether for good reasons or bad. However, claiming that anything is unhackable seems to only make people that much more interested in hacking it. So, why is Microsoft going around saying that the new Xbox 360 should be unhackable? At best it just makes people that much more interested in hacking the device, and at worst it makes people that much less interested in buying the new Xbox because it’s now become that much less valuable as a device that can be modified in beneficial ways.
Comments on “Isn't Calling Something Unhackable Like Begging People To Hack You?”
Very true!
There really is no such thing as an unhackable anything. They will find a way!
Re: Very true!
bingo.
I also agree ...
This product thats more or less designed by humans, developed at Microsoft is unhackable? Like windows is impervious to viruses and trojans? NTM, their attempts to only let legit copies of windows recieve updates, that was uncircumventable as well right? They must have developed a taste for eating their own words… 🙂
No Subject Given
Why would Microsoft think that ‘unhackability’ is a feature that needs promotion? The public either doesn’t care at all, or finds it irritating. While certain vendors and game publishers may be happy about the security, it will not prompt a single consumer to buy the console.
Except maybe as a challenge.
Re: No Subject Given
I have a modded xbox and love it, but here lately have turned back to my old ways of PC gaming, which in all honesty is gaming at its best. I knew the 360 would be great and all, but didn’t plan on buying one. But now that they are claiming it’s unhackable it makes me want to get one to hack it. Now my point is that two things should be noticed here: 1.I just gave MS a bunch of my money. 2.Now MS just has to watch the forums @ xbox-scene.com to see what hacks and mods are born and then they have plans for what their next console should come with. Once again MS has gave birth to a new business strategy. They’re not as stupid as you think. -bLaRG!-
Microsoft
They’re so out of touch with what their customers want I don’t even know where to begin.
Unhackable Merchandising
Corporate sales and advertising staff are being smart, but not original, with this approach.
Security conscious customers (parents) will choose the safe ‘unhackable’ box (or whatever)
to soothe their fears of being victimized by those mysterious and predatory ‘hackers’.
The kids of those parents will prefer to buy the ‘unhackable’ version just for the 3.4 days
of exploration it will provide them before they succeed in hacking it.
Humans love the intellectual challenge of a puzzle.
Why we don’t puzzle out how we are being manipulated most of the time is beyond me.
In the end, it is only more of the usual mundane consumer goods being foisted off on us.
It’s just business as usual, that is, the purchasers get a short lived feel-good
before they have to go out and spend more money for the next newest, coolest, ‘unhackable’.
Announcement is for investors and developers not c
MS is telling investors that while they may lose money on the new Xbox 360’s they believe that the new security features will stop people from buying them to run Linux. This will cut down on the number of sales to people who don’t buy games to go with the machine and thereby help MS’s profits.
Similarly it tells developers that the Xbox will have stronger anti-piracy features and they should therefore develop for the Xbox.
Correction
What they really said is they believe it will be “a long time” before it’s hacked.
Microsoft Unhackable Products?
If the Xbox 360 is so unhackable, why don’t they put some of that technology into Windows? Wait a minute… what am I saying??
Woot
I now have a reason to buy one.
The opposite of sex - or truth - at techdirt
The short description and comment on the BBC article given at Techdirt is fascinatingly absurd, and the comments are illuminating. Techdirt contributor Mike titles his article ?Isn’t Calling Something Unhackable Like Begging People To Hack You?? He then asks, ?So, why is Microsoft going around saying that the new Xbox 360 should be unhackable??
However, when the reader examines the BBC article he finds this quote: ?But Mr Satchell admitted no system was fool-proof and that, with enough time and dedication, the security on the Xbox 360 would be broken.? So, the Microsoft spokesman is saying that the system is ?hackable.? Thus the description given by Mike is an absurd distortion. It is almost the exact opposite of the truth. Many of the responses on this thread simply parrot the misconceptions given in Mike?s summary. Unsurprisingly, many commentators did not even bother to read the article. In this case, even the contributor did not bother to read and understand the article he summarized.
Re: The opposite of sex - or truth - at techdirt
Hmm. The article pretty clearly states that their goal is to make it as unhackable as possible, and the point of our post here was also pretty clear that all this will do is encourage more hackers. I don’t see how that’s distorting it at all… The point was, why advertise this fact at all? It makes it more attractive to hackers as a challenge, and less attractive to users who know they won’t be able to get the most benefit out of the box.