UK Tabloid Accuses Microsoft Again of Xbox Live Hacking, Company Defends Itself

Microsoft has issued a new statement defending itself and its Xbox Live online service after UK tabloid The Sun accused it of allowing hackers to steal sensitive data from many of its users through elaborate phishing attempts.

While The Sun isn’t exactly the best source of journalism investigation from the UK, the tabloid has managed to raise suspicion in concern to the security of Microsoft’s Xbox Live service.

The newspaper ran a massive cover story earlier this week in which it warned of a huge ‘cyber fraud’ happening on Xbox Live, saying that lots of users were tricked into giving up their Xbox Live credentials multiple through phishing attacks.

Microsoft released a statement at that time, saying that its Xbox Live service is secure and that it’s working with victims of such attacks to fix what damage was done.

Now, the UK tabloid is at it again, saying that Microsoft’s been covering up these attacks, as “dozens of angry readers contacted [us] to tell how crooks bought Microsoft Points on their accounts to trade on to users in countries like China, Nigeria and Russia - even though they didn't pass on any personal details or visit phishing websites."

Microsoft has now made another statement, reiterating that its Xbox Live service hasn’t been hacked although quite a few of its users became victims of phishing frauds.

"As we commented on Tuesday, the Xbox Live service has not been hacked. However, we are investigating a number of recent customer complaints relating to Xbox Live customer service - particularly in the way that we have processed refunds to customers that have been victims of phishing related fraud.”

"Consequently, we are taking several steps to address and resolve these particular issues as soon as possible and working closely with our affected customers to investigate and resolve any unauthorized charges made to their accounts resulting from recent phishing scams. Finally we would like to apologize to any customers who have not experienced a good service from us," the company said, via CVG.

So, even if The Sun is blowing things way out of proportion, Xbox 360 owners and Live users should be careful about accessing suspicious emails or messages that ask them personal information, from their Live username or password to other such data.

Hopefully, however, tabloids like The Sun will be stop from agitating the masses with claims of hacking, especially since the large scale cyber-attack that targeted Sony’s PlayStation Network earlier this year is still a sore memory for many gamers.