Xbox Live hacked?

T

The18thLetter

[H]ard|Gawd
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Finisterre [a security researcher at Digital Munition] says that he called Microsoft Tech and they confirmed that "accounts are being stolen and that "Hackers have control of Xbox live and there is nothing we can do about it"
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http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/xbox-live-hacked-accounts-stolen-245887.php

Uh-oh...
Stay tuned for more updates...

UPDATE:
Microsoft's Official Response, via Kotaku:
Recently, there have been reports of fraudulent activity and account theft taking place on the Xbox LIVE network. Security is a top priority for Xbox LIVE, and we are actively investigating all reports of fraudulent behavior and theft. Any customer with a question about the security of their Xbox LIVE account should contact 1-800-4-MY-Xbox, and
an Xbox Customer Service Representative will help them understand our security policies and procedures.
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Hmm..
 
prepaid cards ftw. umm paying $50 at store or over XBL vs paying $35 shipped via ebay, i may be cheap but i thought a lot of people did this. same goes for XBL points.
 
I'm sorry, but there's no way in hell a tech support would ever, ever say anything like that to someone that called. It's just never going to happen.

There may be an issue with accounts being broken into here but hackers controlling xbox live? Give me a break.
 
Psychotext said:
I'm sorry, but there's no way in hell a tech support would ever, ever say anything like that to someone that called. It's just never going to happen.

There may be an issue with accounts being broken into here but hackers controlling xbox live? Give me a break.
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Yeah, I was pretty skeptical of that, too. It just seemed like such a stupid thing to say and I have a hard time believing that anyone who actually knew what was going on right now would put their foot in their mouth like that.
 
I doubt Live itself has been hacked, but more likely someone found a way to hack in through Passport or something like that. Or maybe they've hacked some other online forum, and are using userids/passwords found there and matching them with people's gamertags (which would be pretty easy with xbox related forums.). Or people just fell for a phishing attack. Or they just had a really easy to guess password.

If it was truly hacked, I'd imagine there'd be more than just a couple people with this problem.

Still should be easier to get an account recovered, though. What's Steam like for hacked accounts? Pain in the ass to get back, or fairly easy?
 
Aren't xboxlive accounts associated with the hardware id of the xbox or the serial number something like that?
 
S0m30n3 said:
Aren't xboxlive accounts associated with the hardware id of the xbox or the serial number something like that?
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I don't think so, but I'm only saying this as you can have one account on more than one xbox. Who knows, though.
 
I thought this was only a problem if your Xbox Live account was linked to a LiveID account. Which would indicate it is a problem with the LiveID service, and not Xbox Live.
 
how many times must i tell you not to use "password" as your password!
 
JBark said:
I doubt Live itself has been hacked, but more likely someone found a way to hack in through Passport or something like that. Or maybe they've hacked some other online forum, and are using userids/passwords found there and matching them with people's gamertags (which would be pretty easy with xbox related forums.). Or people just fell for a phishing attack. Or they just had a really easy to guess password.
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As far as all those senarios are concerned, I'm thinking any of them are the real cause. My guess is somebody wasn't careful enough with their vital information.
 
Does all go to show how easy it is to create negative press for a company just using the internet and a few blog posts.
 
CNET Article

Microsoft is investigating possible fraud on its Xbox Live online gaming service, the company said Tuesday.

The investigation comes after gamers reported having their Xbox Live accounts hijacked and their credit cards used to buy "Microsoft Points," the virtual currency on Xbox Live, which has more than 6 million users.

"Recently, there have been reports of fraudulent activity and account theft taking place on the Xbox Live network," a Microsoft representative said in a statement provided to ZDNet Australia sister site CNET News.com. "Security is a top priority for Xbox Live, and we are actively investigating all reports of fraudulent behaviour and theft."

Gamers have been reporting the incidents for some time in online forums -- including on Xbox.com -- and to Microsoft's Xbox help desk. Many users of the Microsoft console have been frustrated with the software giant's response to date.

"My Xbox Live account was hacked and all credit card info was stolen and used to run up points ... Microsoft says: 'Oh, well, better call your credit card companies, nothing we can do,'" one user wrote on the Xbox Web site last month.

Security researcher Kevin Finisterre was playing Halo on a recent night with several friends when some of their opponents threatened to steal their accounts, he said.

"Literally the next day my girl's account was locked out," Finisterre wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. "I received a message on my Xbox that said: 'We are sorry we must log you out of Xbox Live because someone else is using your Gamertag.'" The account was banned. A "Gamertag" is a person's account name on Xbox Live.

Finisterre said that calling Microsoft was no help and that he got the runaround from the support people who answer 1-800-4MY-XBOX, the official help line. "My account is currently being investigated after about seven frustrating calls," he wrote. An edited recording of several calls he made is available on Finisterre's Web site (audio file).

While some users believe the security of Xbox Live was breached, others suggest that users were tricked into giving up enough information while in a game so fraudsters could call Microsoft to change the account information. Users may also have been duped into giving up their account information through phishing scams.

Microsoft asks any Xbox user with a question about the security of their Xbox Live account to call in. "An Xbox customer service representative will help them understand our security policies and procedures," the representative said.
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http://www.cnet.com.au/games/xbox/0,239029621,339274414,00.htm?feed=rss
 
Xbox Live Security

Despite some recent reports and speculation, I want to reassure all of our 6 million Xbox Live members that we have looked into the situation and found no evidence of any compromise of the security of the Xbox Live Network or Bungie.net. There have been a few isolated incidents where malicious users have been attempting to draw personal information from unsuspecting users and use it to gain access to their LIVE account. This is a good time to remind our members that they should never give out any of their personal information. Additionally it may be a good idea to download this free PDF file from Microsoft.com ' Help Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft’ that gives you some excellent information and tips on how to protect yourself.

Hope that clears things up.

Major/Larry
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http://www.majornelson.com/
 
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