Video Games News, Reviews & Guides

Hackers will continue to crack Switch despite Nintendo’s Bounty Program

Since last year Nintendo has implemented a device protection program called HackerOne, which seeks to reward those who find vulnerabilities in the company;s consoles and pass the information before they are exploited by hacking communities. At first HackerOne covered the Wii U and 3DS, but was recently implemented for Switch, its new console.


Following the announcement of HackerOne for Switch, the hacking community did not wait for their response and told the Kotaku site about their thinking. Firstly, the hacking community focused on breaking Nintendo consoles considers that Switch will not represent a change compared to other consoles of the company, because at first they do not have, according to them, with high security standards. In this regard, a hacker known as Stan declared the following: “[Nintendo is] nowhere near where Sony’s at with protecting their IP and their consoles from exploits and hacking. So, [Switch] it’s just like every other Nintendo console at this point.”

On the other hand an investigation of Kotaku, in forums where the scene of hackers usually interacts, revealed that the community is indifferent about the possibility that some can yield to the desire to obtain money fast and easily thanks to the HackerOne program, since they know that important members will not agree to participate in it.

At the same time, a hacker known as Curtisy1 ​​was motivated by the HackerOne program because he considers that it will provide the community with the information needed to break the console in a simpler way: “Imagine Nintendo patches an exploit which was submitted to them via HackerOne. Skilled developers would just look at the changes made and have an entry point for free. Sony just updated webkit with their most recent PS4 firmware and it’s more vulnerable than before according to some devs.”

Although opinions about the amount offered by Nintendo, $20,000 USD to anyone who finds vulnerabilities on the Switch, are diverse – there are those who consider that the amount is a mock given the type of information that would be revealed – most agree that a Switch hack is imminent. It should be remembered that, a week after its launch, the Nintendo Switch had already suffered its first hack.

What do you think of the attitude of the hackers before Switch? Will Nintendo be able to avoid, as much as possible, that Switch is violated? Let us know about your opinion in the comment section below.