George_Wrisley August 29, 2008 Xbox 360 76 views Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

Here is some interesting, and disturbing, info from MTV.com:

Earlier this month, a hacker bragged that he’d gained access to the Xbox Live identity — or gamertag, as it’s known — of “Halo 3” multiplayer producer Joe Tung. This allowed him access to Tung’s account and personal information. Tung isn’t alone.

For almost three years now, dozens of gamers who believed their Xbox 360 online identities were safe and secure have taken to message boards and Web sites to report gamertags stolen by zealous hackers. The practice has become prevalent enough that tutorials about how to do it have popped up across the Internet, heightened after the release of Bungie Studio’s sci-fi online shooter “Halo 3.”

“People don’t hack accounts by using programs and any other bullsh– that you hear around [Xbox Live],” the hacker claimed. “It’s as simple as picking up the phone.” There is precedent for such claims. Since “Halo 3″ was released, and especially after the debut of the elusive Recon Armor, several Bungie employee accounts have been compromised along with dozens of users, MTV News has learned.

You don’t have to look far on the Bungie.net message boards for proof of paranoia. One user posted a list of concerns after being threatened with hacking following the conclusion of a heated “Halo 3″ match. Another user had a quick suggestion: “I would suggest kissing up to the hackers and hope they are merciful. But if they aren’t merciful, trash-talk till you start to feel like an ass.”

The hacks are typically accomplished through a popularized technique called social engineering, when someone is unknowingly coerced into revealing confidential information. This isn’t the first time it’s come up with “Halo 3.” It was widely documented by technology sites in March 2007, then again last December and, based on the evidence surrounding Tung’s account and others, remains a prominent form of abuse.

Bungie would only tell MTV News that an outside party accessed Tung’s account. “We can confirm that Joe’s account was compromised,” Bungie Studios writer Luke Smith said. “Representatives from Microsoft aided Joe in swiftly resolving the issue.”

As for the implications of the compromise: “No comment,” Smith said.

That’s all pretty f-d up. It makes me think that the world might just be full of Wallers. Damn. I think it is.