Microsoft: No evidence of Xbox Live hacking [update 1]

by Dustin Burg { Mar 21st 2007 at 9:35PM }

Our good friend Major Nelson sent us an update on the whole Xbox Live / Windows Live ID hacking fiasco that hit the news wire today. According to Major, there is "no evidence of any compromise of the security of the Xbox Live Network or Bungie.net" but there has been a "few isolated incidents where malicious users have been attempting to draw personal information from unsuspecting users". So, the accounts that were seemingly "hacked" were probably due information gained from phishing schemes rather than an actual network hack. We knew those hackers weren't the real deal ... dirty monkeys. Please take the time to get learned and don't give out your account information, because you can never be too cautious. Play safe kids!

Update 1: This mystery has been solved!

Tags: hack, live, mod, xbox live, XboxLive

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Miguel @ Mar 22nd 2007 5:58PM

social engineering... a beautiful thing.

Insomnious @ Mar 21st 2007 10:19PM

The word 'hacked' is such a cliche. If MSN doesn't sign in, you've been hacked. If your PC is running a little slow, you're being hacked.

I'm pretty sure 99% of people who have been "hacked" just don't have a clue about internet security. I aslo love it when people claim to be able to hack other users on Xbox Live; how very 1998!

Good times, good times.

Randy @ Mar 22nd 2007 3:13PM

i dont know if i got hacked, but i didnt give out any info and this happened

When i first got my xbox 360 i was playing online and started to get pissed so i started talking shit, this one guy said he was working for microsoft and was going to ban my account. so he started talking to this other dude saying my i.p address and ban me for profanity. shut off my xbox and turned it back on and it said i was now a silver account holder. called microsoft and they said i called in and cancelled. they had no information of me being banned. they said all they saw was i cancelled over phone. the only way i you can cancel over the phone is to give them all your information. so this dude knew my name where i live and all the other important stuff. microsoft said they were handing it over to the higher ups and would take care off it. 1 week later i was back on. still kinda weird that someone not working for microsoft could find that out.

Randy @ Mar 21st 2007 10:43PM

i dont know if this is considered hacked into but i think it is

When i first got my xbox 360 i was playing online and started to get pissed so i started talking shit, this one guy said he was working for microsoft and was going to ban my account. so he started talking to this other dude saying my i.p address and ban me for profanity. shut off my xbox and turned it back on and it said i was now a silver account holder. called microsoft and they said i called in and cancelled. they had no information of me being banned. they said all they saw was i cancelled over phone. the only way i you can cancel over the phone is to give them all your information. so this dude knew my name where i live and all the other important stuff. microsoft said they were handing it over to the higher ups and would take care off it. 1 week later i was back on. still kinda weird that someone not working for microsoft could find that out.

adam @ Mar 22nd 2007 12:36AM

@2
actually you wouldnt believe the stuff you can do without the proper information over the phone. He could have just had your gamertag and possibly a name and thats it. Just like most companies, all you gotta have is a name. However recently companies have started asking for socials and to confirm addresses and such.

But hey.
Maybe youll think twice before you start talking $hit over live next time, who knows.

@1 I agree.
1998ish indeed.

Morgon @ Mar 22nd 2007 1:05AM

Also, one thing I haven't seen anyone report on are the numerous bad experiences with 'account swappers'

Many/most people into Achievement cheating often get other people to recover their GamerTag and play games for them.
There have been plenty of instances where they give their account details to someone else, only to find that the malicious person changed all of the information, charged MSP, etc.

I guarantee at least a few of these 'incidents' are from people who knowingly gave their account information to someone else in the hopes of seeing 'free' Achievements.

Personally, I think you get what you deserve - but you should never EVER give your account details to anyone. Ever. Period.

Boff @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:31AM

Absolutely. The silly fuckers who give out their Gamertag details deserve everything they get.

The account has your home address and credit card details associated with it, and you're happy to let any Tom, Dick and Harry have access to it just so you can have a bigger Gamerscore?

I don't understand how your brains work!

David Wright @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:41AM

Interesting comment on the major nelson site by a user. they day before the PS3 launches in europe this happens. I would not be suprised to find a thread in a random ps3 site of attempting to ruin the image of xbox360 and live before european launch. Some people will go to any length!

Insomnious @ Mar 22nd 2007 11:12AM

@Randy;

Come on, wisen up dude. You think Microsoft employees sit at their workstations playing on Live, and when someone becomes abusive, just turn around to their PC's and ban them?

When I used to play Soldier of Fortune online years ago over dial-up, I heard every threat under the sun, and it almost always began with the IP threat. Admittedly, it's easier to find this information on PC, but using a console? You think Microsoft employees are given such liberty as to disclose IP's over Live chat, and the freedom to ban at will?

From what I know of tech support call centres, all actions performed on an account are logged for troubleshooting.

You'd think in 2007 people would become clued up to this sort of idle threat.