Nintendo Switch Linux Hack – Is it True?

Yes! You read that right! A hacking collaborative from Russia has indeed turned the Nintendo Switch into a fully-functional Linux tablet! The hacker group fail0ver posted a still image on Twitter showing the Linux platform being booted up on Nintendo Switch. This was followed by a spate of comments and queries on how to get this done on every Nintendo Switch.

So far, no particulars have been released on this. But the hacker group did post a video soon after showing the Linux platform running smoothly on their Nintendo Switch. It even supported touch and had an active web-browsing being used on it. Another amazing thing is that the hacker group even had a demo app powered by the console’s GPU.

Code execution is all the rage these days, but can your Switch do *this*? ;-) #switchnix pic.twitter.com/NMnBq61tOM

— fail0verflow (@fail0verflow) February 17, 2018

We don’t need to tell you why this is an impressive feat and bodes some amount of concern for gaming console companies.

Nintendo Switch Linux Hack – Why is this Important?

If you are a gamer, you understand why this is important implicitly. For those who don’t have a good handle on the scenario, let us put it down in plain ol’ black and white. Hacking a console, any console, is no easy task. Companies invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into making their consoles hack-proof and ensure that they only run original games.

Obviously, now that the Switch has been hacked, the question everyone is asking is can we run pirated games on the console? Chances are that you can. Clearly, this means that the company stands to lose a lot of money because pirated versions of games are a dime a dozen. And if a console has been hacked, all you really need is a functional copy of the game you want to play, the right software to make it run and you are all set!

How Did They Make It Happen?

While the details on to how this hack was achieved are still not clear, we do know that fail0ver exploited a vulnerable spot in the boot ROM grouping of the console to get the hack going. The best and most ingenious part of the hack is that they did not use a modchip to tweak the console’s functionality.

Also, according to the group, this bug cannot be patched up or fixed with firmware updates, so anyone with the right guidance or potent mix of determination and skills can make the hack and use it to their benefit. The gaming community is worried in anticipation of the release of the notes on how to get this done and we can expect them to appear sometime in the near future.

What’s the Official Take on the Nintendo Switch Linux Hack?

Meanwhile, Nintendo has made no comments on this bit of exciting news and it is expected that they might try to overpass the bug by simply installing a new processor in future consoles. Whatever the measures are taken to keep hackers at bay, it is evident from this that at least the lower-wrung of gaming consoles are not as impregnable as we have been led to believe.