It Really Does Do Everything!
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 7:02 pmPlayStation 3 Used to Catch Child Pornographers
Federal officials taking a liking to Sony's number cruncher.
by Jim Reilly
November 16, 2009 - Sony's recent advertising campaign isn't an exaggeration. The console really can do everything. Even catch people trafficking child pornography.
In a report from AXcess News, federal officers have begun using Sony's PlayStation 3 to catch child predators by cracking encrypted passwords on seized computers and laptops.
"Bad guys are encrypting their stuff now, so we need a methodology of hacking on that to try to break passwords," said Claude E. Davenport, a senior special agent at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Cyber Crimes Center, known as C3. "The PlayStation 3 - its processing component - is perfect for large-scale library attacks."
The report states the PS3 can process over 4 million passwords per second, which Neil Condon, vice president of Public Affairs for AccessData Corp., says is due in part by the console's processing power.
But why the PS3? Condon also said it's because Linux can be install on the system, and it is significantly cheaper than the $8,000+ servers agents were using before.
A virtual Chris Hansen.
Federal officials taking a liking to Sony's number cruncher.
by Jim Reilly
November 16, 2009 - Sony's recent advertising campaign isn't an exaggeration. The console really can do everything. Even catch people trafficking child pornography.
In a report from AXcess News, federal officers have begun using Sony's PlayStation 3 to catch child predators by cracking encrypted passwords on seized computers and laptops.
"Bad guys are encrypting their stuff now, so we need a methodology of hacking on that to try to break passwords," said Claude E. Davenport, a senior special agent at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Cyber Crimes Center, known as C3. "The PlayStation 3 - its processing component - is perfect for large-scale library attacks."
The report states the PS3 can process over 4 million passwords per second, which Neil Condon, vice president of Public Affairs for AccessData Corp., says is due in part by the console's processing power.
But why the PS3? Condon also said it's because Linux can be install on the system, and it is significantly cheaper than the $8,000+ servers agents were using before.
A virtual Chris Hansen.