Gaming the security - The new generation of consolesWith the Xbox One having landed in many countries, it's time to have a closer look at the new console generation. The Xbox One is equipped with two virtualized operating systems, both running on a hypervisor: the core system for gaming and a slimmed down version of Windows 8 for the app landscape. It is also planned to make it compatible with apps originally made for Windows Phone. It will also be interesting to see the level of platform sharing with Windows 8 and therefore the compatibility for malware targeting existing Windows systems. This, however, is still something yet to be explored.
There have already been malware attacks on games consoles in the past. Like Trojans for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP as well as proof of concept attacks against the Nintendo Wii, in which the console was used as a door opener to breach corporate networks, as shown at BlackHat in 2010. The malware, however, was seldom seen in the wild and needed a -homebrew- firmware first, in order to be able to execute pirated games v this is the way the malware was disguised and it was then spread via torrents and other file sharing networks. This meant high barriers for malware authors and the reason for the low infection rates. However, the high interconnectivity of modern consoles, like apps for Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, chat tools and video conferencing like Skype opens doors and makes them more vulnerable to attacks.
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Gaming the security - The new generation of consoles
