Prompt's TechBlog
Powerful Playstation Processor Penetrates Password Protection
30 November 2007
Posted by Duncan Heaney
Sony's Playstation 3 is currently experiencing something of a resurgance. It's not unfair to say that the games console has had a troubled first year. Microsoft's Xbox 360 enjoyed a significantly earlier launch, and Nintendo's family friendly Wii captured the imagination of casual gamers across the world, but a prohibitive price tag, a lack of exceptional exclusives, and a late arrival onto the market has meant Sony have been forced to play catch up.
But things are looking up for the PlayStation 3. A price reduction has seen sales of the powerful console rocket. According to new figures, monthly sales of the PlayStation 3 have overtaken the phenomenally successful Nintendo Wii for the first time in its home territory of Japan. But it's not just gamers who are enjoying the powerful capabilities of the PS3.
The powerful chip that lies at the heart of the PS3, the Cell chip, is being put to use in ways that are more... practical than gaming. The BBC reports that Aukland-based security researcher Nick Breese has been using a PS3 to crack eight character passwords. Typically, it could take days to crack these passwords, but the power of the Cell means it is able to crack these passwords in mere hours.
The reason for the Cell's amazing performance can be attributed to the fact that it is designed with one thing in mind - brute force. Each chip has multiple processing cores, allowing it to go through over 1.4 billion cycles per second. As a point of comparison, a powerful Intel chip is capable of 10-15 million cycles a second.
Mr. Breese was quick to point out that although passwords could be cracked with the console, stronger encryption systems remained safe.
This is not the only example of the Playstation 3 being used outside its usual remit of games and films. FAH (Folding@Home) is a distributed computing network, harnessing the power of over 700,000 PS3s to research how the shapes of proteins influence diseases such as Alzheimers. The network has recently been recognised by Guinness World Records as the most powerful distributed network in the world.
Sony is making progress with the PS3, but it continues to lag behind its rivals. While it seems as if gamers have yet to take the expensive machine to their hearts, the scientific community certainly has. The Cell chip is an astonishingly powerful piece of technology, and it is being deployed in a wide variety of scenarios, from password cracking to supercomputers. Whatever happens to the PS3, it looks like the Cell is here to stay.
But things are looking up for the PlayStation 3. A price reduction has seen sales of the powerful console rocket. According to new figures, monthly sales of the PlayStation 3 have overtaken the phenomenally successful Nintendo Wii for the first time in its home territory of Japan. But it's not just gamers who are enjoying the powerful capabilities of the PS3.
The powerful chip that lies at the heart of the PS3, the Cell chip, is being put to use in ways that are more... practical than gaming. The BBC reports that Aukland-based security researcher Nick Breese has been using a PS3 to crack eight character passwords. Typically, it could take days to crack these passwords, but the power of the Cell means it is able to crack these passwords in mere hours.
The reason for the Cell's amazing performance can be attributed to the fact that it is designed with one thing in mind - brute force. Each chip has multiple processing cores, allowing it to go through over 1.4 billion cycles per second. As a point of comparison, a powerful Intel chip is capable of 10-15 million cycles a second.
Mr. Breese was quick to point out that although passwords could be cracked with the console, stronger encryption systems remained safe.
This is not the only example of the Playstation 3 being used outside its usual remit of games and films. FAH (Folding@Home) is a distributed computing network, harnessing the power of over 700,000 PS3s to research how the shapes of proteins influence diseases such as Alzheimers. The network has recently been recognised by Guinness World Records as the most powerful distributed network in the world.
Sony is making progress with the PS3, but it continues to lag behind its rivals. While it seems as if gamers have yet to take the expensive machine to their hearts, the scientific community certainly has. The Cell chip is an astonishingly powerful piece of technology, and it is being deployed in a wide variety of scenarios, from password cracking to supercomputers. Whatever happens to the PS3, it looks like the Cell is here to stay.
Labels: games, playstation, security
