Security researchers compiled 200 PS3's to make one mean supercomputer. Using all that processing and some "new math" they were able to crack internet security safeguard. So if you have a spare 200 PS3's and a degree in mathmatics, you can probably find out your neighbors credit card number on amazon.

Fallow the link for a video aswell.

Jack was just saying that the PlayStation 3 didn't have a good Christmas in the US, but maybe the gaming console just found a new use as a poor man's supercomputer for cyber-mobsters looking to crack the security keys of the internet.

In a classic reminder to use your mad ninja geek skills for good and not evil, security researchers have used a supercomputer made of 200 PlayStation 3s to crack the keys of a fundamental internet security safeguard. It only took three days and some 'new math', says David Molnar, a computer science PhD candidate at UC Berkeley.

We all know (or should know) that when sending sensitive details over the internet, we need to look for the little lock telling us that we're using a secure connection. The security researchers used their supercomputer to crack the MD5 hash and set themselves as a rogue security certification provider, basically VeriSign's evil twin. As Kevin Poulsen explains so expertly on Wired's Threat Level blog:

Sayyed via guardian.co.uk »