For the tinkerer, it represents freedom: the ability to run what they want on hardware they own. For Nintendo, it represents a broken lock that needs to be constantly patched. And for the average gamer, it’s a risky tool that sits uncomfortably between legitimate homebrew and outright piracy.
Why were people so desperate to get this file?
A legitimate prod.keys file is tied to a specific console’s hardware. It is not a universal file, though keys for the same firmware version are often functionally identical across consoles.
Switch Keys, why do I need them? how to get them? what are they for?
However, a PC is not a Switch. It does not have the built-in hardware to decrypt Nintendo’s proprietary encryption. When you loaded a game into an emulator, the software would look at the encrypted data and panic. It didn't know how to read it.
Nintendo does not distribute these keys. They are unique to the console’s bootrom and security processor (Tegra X1’s T210 chip). To obtain a functional prod.keys file, a user must extract them directly from their own physical Nintendo Switch console.