Hacker cracked Nintendo Switch is actually caused by NVIDIA Tegra chip vulnerability?

Cracking the host and turning paid games into free games is one of the many hackers' interest. Recently, a female hacker named Kate Temkin officially announced the cracking of the Nintendo Switch, which is applicable to all current system versions of Switch, and said that this is caused by a vulnerability in the NVIDIA Tegra chip. The factory Switch host cannot be repaired by system update.

Nintendo uses NVIDA Tegra chips

Kate Temkin said that the vulnerability in the NVIDIA Tegra chip was discovered a few weeks ago and that NVIDIA and other vendors using the chip were notified as soon as possible. The vulnerability exists in the read-only bootrom of the Tegra chip, and it is not only the Nintendo Switch that is affected.

The affected manufacturers are not just Nintendo

Chip vulnerabilities spread to the world

The culprit in this incident is the chip vulnerability, but don't underestimate this vulnerability, it is likely to trigger a huge tsunami.

The Intel processor vulnerability incident that broke out in 2018 can be said to be the most serious security incident in the chip field in recent years. In addition to Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Samsung, Apple and many other companies have been affected to varying degrees.

Meltdown demo: peeping password

These vulnerabilities could allow hackers to steal information from a large number of computer chips stored on personal devices—not just computers and mobile phones, but also servers in the data center, including servers used to run cloud computing. A wide range of vulnerabilities allow hackers to steal information stored in the chip's own memory, including passwords and cache files. These vulnerabilities also help attackers to weaken other security features of the computer.

Meltdown and Spectre Vulnerabilities

Today, the rapid evolution of various technology products, the importance of the chip is self-evident. But for a long time, the chip-related core technology is firmly controlled by a few manufacturers, which is not a good thing for ordinary consumers and national security, let alone the security risks of the back door of the chip. Whether it is a CPU vulnerability incident or a Sino-US trade war that has just erupted, it has fully demonstrated the drawbacks of the chip monopoly.

Chip localization is imperative

Without mastering the R&D and manufacturing technologies of chips, Chinese companies are finally caught in the throat by multinational giants. The current state of the chip industry is that in the past two decades, US semiconductor companies accounted for nearly half of the global semiconductor market, while other outstanding companies are located in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Europe. In the past two decades, there have been no companies in mainland China entering the top 20.

Last year, China imported 230 billion US dollars of chips, which is the first major product; nearly double the second-placed 110 billion US dollars of crude oil. China's chip demand accounts for 50% of the world, while domestic brand chips can only supply about 8%.

Promote localization of chips

In this context, it is crucial to promote the research of chip leading edge technology and promote the localization of chip design and manufacturing. IC PARK, as the spatial layout of the integrated circuit industry in Beijing, undertakes the international smart park of IC design enterprises, focusing on high-end industries, creating a development environment, building an ecosystem, and achieving innovation as the mission of the park. For IC PARK's enterprises, they will receive government subsidies for mask production and filming, and a series of other policy support, all of which are only for the stronger Chinese core.