All credit goes to GBAtemp.

Long-time GBAtemp member and store owner OzModChips recently tweeted a picture that got our community excited: a powered-on Nintendo 3DS console displaying a message - "WE HACKED IT!". The information has been confirmed by various sceners among which crediar. You may notice that the 3DS top screen is fully lit which confirms that this isn't just some NDS homebrew. The author of this hack is reportedly the well-known scener yellows8; he also stated that the hack was possible through a game save exploit (he did not mention which game though).

 http://gbatemp.net/threads/has-the-nintendo-3ds-been-hacked.339319/

The fact it was posted at GBAtemp community (where you might get banned for yet another 3DS hack rumor), and the news are coming from the community member adds credibility to the rumor, but nothing is certain at this point.

Little remainder. DS was hacked in early 2006, roughly 1 year after it's launch and first gen flashcart starts appearing in mid 2006, though before the second gen carts hit the market the process of running homebrew on the DS was rather troublesome. 3DS remained unconquered territory for hackers for 2 years now.

Well, that's good timing. I just blew 500 bucks on the system and games :D

Oh man, this can't be true, but even if it is I hope Nintendo can do something about it, be it with updates or hunting the hackers.

I wouldn't mind. It would survive just like the DS did. Hacking would kill the Vita in a single day, but people would still buy Nintendo 1st party games on 3DS and these are the only games I care about anyway.
The only reason I kept playing my DSi was thanks to the Acekart. I had all my games with me all the time, the console was truely portable. I would never care to carry all those carts with me and I like to be able to choose what I play at a given moment, depending on how much time I have, where I am, etc. So even though I have original carts, I didn't use them. That is one of the reasons I chose the Vita and why I'm going 100% digital.

If they don't give any information other than a screen saying "We hacked it!" I won't believe this. I guess there is no reason for them to lie, but it's still strange though.

People, I've added little remainder in the OP. DS was hacked early in it's life, hell, there were emulators running at full speed later in it's life cycle, did it hurt DS? Doubt it, given how successful system was hardware and software wise.

So do not worry about it's life prospects. If it dies painfully, it's soleley due to mistreatment by Nintendo.

Damn I hope this isn't true. Sorry hackers, but you suck.

Don't understand why people expend so much effort trying to get a five-finger discount on games...

for the ones that actually do the hacking and exploiting, its usually just to test their abilities and see if they can.

Which just opens up a can of worms. Though I feel liek they do it for the free games honestly.