We were a little worried that nobody would consider the Internet Channel a fully-featured Web browser unless it crashed all the time. Some jerks on YouTube are working right now to make that happen!
Symantec has posted an explanation of the recent Wii security issue, which, as far as security goes, is a non-issue. You can also see it in "action" after the break! Basically, people can post hacked YouTube videos that freeze browsers. This affects any system that can run Flash, the Wii included. An exploit that takes advantage of this hack has already been devised for Windows, but other Flash-capable systems are safe right now. Yes, this means no homebrew code yet, but it also means that some dude isn't ... uh, stealing your Miis? What would someone even do to a Wii?
[Thanks, Almadi!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-25-2007 @ 2:15PM
seetrapp said...
This is a little of topic, but, could someone explain to me why the Wii doesn't run Flash 9?
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7-25-2007 @ 2:24PM
Nushio said...
Because Flash 9 is made by Adobe. And it currently works on Intel x86 procs. Wii uses something else, I can't remember if its CIRC or PPC, but either way, its not x86, which means Adobe has to port it.
Unless Ninty drops a wad of cash, which I highly doubt, they wont.
Hell, we had Flash 7 here on linuxland for the longest time. Luckily, Adobe recently released Flash 9 here too.
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7-25-2007 @ 2:35PM
seetrapp said...
So, the only good video site I can use will be YouTube for now. Oh well.
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7-25-2007 @ 2:38PM
seetrapp said...
What about 8? Would that help much?
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7-25-2007 @ 2:51PM
imbozzy said...
Come on people. If they release an update for the Wii to use the latest flash, then who's going to actually throw money down on that awesome game called Line Rider that they're making for the Wii, when they can just browse to the web site?!
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7-25-2007 @ 3:00PM
Gordon said...
NOOOO! Those monsters stole Ackabar!
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7-25-2007 @ 3:23PM
BPM said...
@Nushio:
The real reason why Wii only has Flash 7 is because that's the newest SDK Adobe has released. Meaning, if anyone but Adobe wants to port Flash to a platform Adobe hasn't already made a plugin for, then they're stuck with Flash 7.
The only two solutions for this is:
1) Adobe releases a Flash 8/9 SDK for developers to use.
2) Adobe themselves releases a Flash 8/9 plugin for Wii.
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7-25-2007 @ 3:33PM
Joseph Elwell said...
"it also means that some dude isn't ... uh, stealing your Miis? What would someone even do to a Wii?"
Here's what they can do:
1. Turn your Wii into a zombie emailing spam machine.
2. Brick your Wii so it won't run anymore
3. Grab your Wii System id for malicious purposes
- like allowing some future banned Wii to reconnect to the Wii network.
1 is probably the biggest issue. This could seriously slow down gameplay and network access.
2 is relatively easy because it's known that applying a system update from the wrong region will brick you wii. So the hacker would merely have to write some garbage into the html file that lives on your Wii that controls some of the Channel UI.
3 demonstrates what might be possible if Nintendo ever bans modded Wiis like Microsoft did to the XBOX 360s. For a hacker, it would be relatively trivial to spood a legitimate version once Nintendo's countermeasure is released.
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7-25-2007 @ 4:16PM
Jack said...
The Internet Channel is pretty unstable as it is. Youtube was ALWAYS a gamble, and a video of theirs will freeze my system about once every 20 or 30 times. And just about any other video embed system (like the UnCut Video embed your bros at TVSquad use) will freeze it almost every time.
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7-25-2007 @ 4:51PM
Ryan said...
Dude, Symantec is so retarded. I tried it on Opera for Windows, Firefox, and IE 7. Symantec is just scaring people. So people use their product. Just Google flv bug demo, and it will crash all browsers, NOT JUST Internet Browser.
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7-25-2007 @ 5:10PM
JC Fletcher said...
Well, I did mention that it affects any system that uses Flash, right? And that there's a Windows exploit that takes advantage of it? Also, they demonstrate on Windows and Mac browsers in the video.
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7-26-2007 @ 10:21AM
nytestalker said...
What would I do if I was in your Wii...
I would start by erasing the Wii OS.....
Clone your Wii, and steal your VC games...
Change your date and time. (so ebil)
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7-26-2007 @ 1:26PM
tobin92 said...
The Wii probably doesn't have enough RAM to run a virus.
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