Speaking with Yifan Lu, an individual who claims to have found the means by which homebrew applications can be run on the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Lifestyle has discovered that even though the modding community is moving deeper into Sony's latest portable, custom firmware, as it ran rampant on the PSP, is still a long way away.
Lu told PSLS:
LU: [The tool I'm developing] cannot be used for loading backups/pirated content even if I want to because of the physical limitations of the exploit (it is userland, no rights to decrypt/load games).
PSLS: Are you saying that your exploit won't be able to benefit other hackers who may wish to make the Vita pirateable?
LU: When the exploit goes public, it could be used as a stepping stone to analyze the system for farther exploits, including the more desirable kernel exploit, which if found would open the system up entirely (mods, Custom Firmware, maybe even Linux/Android, and unfortunately ISO loaders). However, it takes a lot of skills to find such an exploit, and those who I talked to with the necessary skills are all anti-piracy. However, not thinking of potential other exploits, this one can only be used to load homebrews and nothing else.
The Vita is holding steady against intrusions, but as with any "security," it's only a matter of time.
