About Author: Ryan Fennel

Over the last twelve months, many Xbox gamers became aware of the lack of online security instituted by Microsoft for Xbox Live. A very common hack during that time frame was for users’ accounts to be hijacked and used to buy an enormous amount of content in EA’s FIFA 2012. The widespread nature of this issue caused sites, such as Hackedonxbox.com, to be launched in order to raise awareness.

Thankfully, Microsoft has made increasing Xbox 360 security an initiative.  In a recent post on the Xbox forums, Xbox LIVE General Manager Alex Garden identified improvements to security and how to best protect your gamertag.  As staff of Xbox Kinect Fans have personally felt the wrath of the notoriously known FIFA hack, we do not hesitate to encourage everyone to read all that Xbox LIVE General Manager Alex Garden has to say regarding the security improvements at Xbox.

For those who would rather just have the bullet-point overview of what was covered, here is a breakdown provided by Microsoft regarding improvements:

• We’ve taken legal action to pull down online posts of gamertags, usernames and passwords gathered from malware or phishing schemes to help protect our members.
• Our Xbox LIVE Spring update included many behind the scenes improvements that help us build on security enhancements for the near future.
• We’re sending unique codes to the security phone numbers and secondary email addresses provided by members to verify authorization for Xbox.com purchases or account change attempts not stemming from a member’s trusted device.
• We’re working to reduce market incentives for criminal activity. Engaging in identity theft, trading in stolen accounts and committing credit card fraud are illegal and violate our Terms of Use. Those involved in these activities risk criminal prosecution, account and console bans. That goes for both sellers and buyers of known stolen accounts and content.

If any of you have had your account hacked, we would love to get your feedback on Mr. Garden’s forum post.  Do you think Microsoft is doing enough to protect its customers?  Sound off in the comments below.