Xbox Live’s Hack Wasnt A Hack, Says Microsoft


Last month, a surprisingly large-scale hacking attack went down on Xbox Live, all centred around EA Sports’ FIFA 11 and FIFA 12. Microsoft today acknowledged the intrusions, but is adamant they weren’t the result of hacks.

Microsoft’s online safety director Doug Park has told Eurogamer “It’s not a hack, it’s really just a different way to monetise stolen accounts.”

“Any service has compromises. Facebook has compromises, WOW has compromises. What they’re really doing is trying to make money off those compromises. So FIFA is a very popular title – it’s just a new way for the bad guys to make money. It wasn’t, based on our investigation… we didn’t see anything new. It was just a different avenue.”

Pushed for just what the attack actually was, Park would only say it was the result of a form of phishing.

I know that technically he’s right, if it was phishing it’s not a hack, but that doesn’t stop “It’s not a hack, it’s really just a different way to monetise stolen accounts” from being my favourite publisher quote of 2011.

FIFA Ultimate Team XBL account hijacks were “not a hack” [Eurogamer]


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