There are now hackers offering their services for money on the 17 million member Xbox Live service. If you’re unhappy with someone who beat you at a game, for instance, simply pay $20 to the right person, and they’ll be booted off by the hackers, according to reports.
They flood the users with a Denial of Service attack, very similar to those employed against websites, Chris Boyd, director of malware research at Facetime Communications, told the BBC.
"The smart thing about these Xbox tools is that they do not attack the Xbox Live network itself."
Essentially, the hackers exploit the Xbox Live setup, under which each console has an IP address. All the hacker has to do is find that address, then flood the user using a botnet, which stops the user connecting to the network.
"They get your IP address, put it in the booter tool and they attempt to flood the port that uses Xbox traffic," said Mr Boyd. "Flooding that port prevents any traffic getting out."
The only difficult part is finding a user’s IP address, but the hackers offering the services are apparently quite skilled.
Microsoft said:
"We are investigating reports involving the use of malicious software tools that an attacker could use to try and disrupt an Xbox Live player’s internet connection."
"This problem is not related to the Xbox Live service, but to the player’s internet connection. The attacker could also attempt [to] disrupt other internet activities, such as streaming video or web browsing, using the same tools.
In its statement Microsoft warned:
"This malicious activity violates the Xbox Live Terms of Use, and will result in a ban from Xbox Live and other appropriate action.”
