Microsoft Thwarts Xbox Hackers

**************************************************************
-- Educational CyberPlayGround Community 
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/
-- NetHappenings Mailing List ©1993
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NetHappenings.html
-- Subscribe - Unsubscribe - Set Preferences
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/index.html
-- Advertise on Nethappenings the oldest K12 Mailing List 
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/Subguidelines.html
**************************************************************


>Is Microsoft using 'Halo 2' to thwart Xbox hackers?
>Published: November 12, 2004, 4:00 AM PST
>By David Becker
>Staff Writer, CNET News.com
>
>
>Microsoft appears to be using its smash "Halo 2" game as a vehicle to
>crack down on mod chips and other hacks of its Xbox video game console.
>
>Hundreds of Xbox owners have reported in online forums in recent days
>that they were banned from Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming
>service, after trying to play "Halo 2" online with a modified console.
>
>  More stories on Xbox hacking
>A Microsoft representative would not specify which additional security
>measures, if any, have been added to Xbox Live around the "Halo 2"
>launch. "Microsoft listens carefully to the Xbox Live community and
>reserves the right to take steps necessary to preserve the integrity of
>the user experience," the representative said in a statement. "Our goal
>is to provide our users with secure, consistent and fair online game
>play. Users are not permitted to manipulate the system to the detriment
>of others."
>
>  "Mod chips," gray-market add-ons that allow game consoles to run
>imported discs, pirated games and homemade software, began circulating
>for the Xbox shortly after the game machine went on sale four years
>ago. Hackers who equip their Xboxes with mod chips and other upgrades,
>such as bigger hard drives, have gotten the consoles to perform all
>sorts of unauthorized tricks, including running Linux software and
>serving as digital media centers.
>
>  Microsoft and other hardware makers have long fought against mod
>chips, chiefly because those chips abet game piracy. The software
>giant's activities culminated in a Justice Department raid two years
>ago in which federal lawmakers took over a Web site used to sell mod
>chips and swap illegally copied games.
>
>  Billy Pidgeon, an analyst for research firm Zelos Group, said console
>makers have long used any means available to them to thwart mod chips
>and halt illegal copying of games. The advent of online gaming for
>consoles has raised the stakes, he said.
>
>   "They're worried not just about enabling casual piracy but also about
>cheating," Pidgeon said. "A modded Xbox can allow all sorts of new
>avenues for cheating online and ruining the experience for paying
>customers. I would argue that Xbox Live is a great experience for the
>end user precisely because it's a closed, controlled environment, and
>anything that threatens that is a real concern for Microsoft."
>
>  As first reported by CNET News.com, Microsoft has also used Xbox Live
>since its inception to crack down on mod chips and other hacks. The
>Xbox Live user agreement states that "Xbox Live may only be accessed
>with an unmodified, except for Microsoft-authorized repairs and
>upgrades, Xbox video game console. Any attempt to disassemble,
>decompile, create derivative works of, reverse engineer, modify,
>further sublicense, distribute or use for other purposes either the
>hardware or software of this system, is strictly prohibited and may
>result in termination of your account and/or your ability to access
>Xbox Live."
>
>  The agreement further gives Microsoft authority to "retrieve
>information from the Xbox used to log onto Xbox Live as necessary to
>operate and protect the security of Xbox Live and to enforce this
>agreement."
>
>  Initial Xbox Live antihacker measures focused on checking a console's
>BIOS--the software that controls basic functions of a computing
>device--to ensure it was running on original Microsoft software.
>Hackers got around those checks with switches and software dongles that
>temporarily turn off a mod chip before signing in to Xbox Live.
>
>  Recent updates to the Xbox Live service, made just before Tuesday's
>release of "Halo 2" was set to touch off a huge surge in Xbox Live
>subscriptions, appear to go much further, however. The service now
>apparently checks the console's hard drive and boots any machine with
>storage different than the 8GB or 10GB hard drive originally supplied
>with the console. Hard drive upgrades are one of the most common hacks
>for the Xbox, allowing it to serve as a digital media jukebox.
>
>  Online forums such as Xbox Scene and Team Xecuter have logged reports
>from hundreds of Xbox owners who previously were able to access Xbox
>Live with their modified consoles--typically outfitted with a mod chip
>and a bigger hard drive--but have been banned from the service since
>trying to go online with "Halo 2."
>
>  "The Datapusher," a California systems administrator who asked that
>his real name not be used, said he's outfitted his Xbox with an Xecuter
>mod chip, a 200GB hard drive and some add-on software to turn the
>device into a digital media center. He didn't have any problem using
>Xbox Live until he got "Halo 2" this week.
>
>  "The current theory that I am subscribing to on the mass bans from
>Microsoft are that when you originally signed up for their service,
>they listed your hard drive in a database," Datapusher said via e-mail.
>"During one of their recent...service updates, they checked to see if
>the serial number of the drive matched the number listed in their
>database. If you were one of the unlucky people who had been flagged in
>this scan, you were banned from their service on the eve of one of the
>biggest game launches I can remember."
>
>  Datapusher said he was temporarily able to regain access to Xbox Live
>after some tinkering Wednesday night, but was banned again shortly
>after. He vowed not to give in and buy a new Xbox, the route reportedly
>taken by many hackers eager to join the online "Halo 2" scrum. "I won't
>give up that easily," he vowed. "Someone will find a way. Microsoft may
>be clever, but not as much so as the open-source community...there will
>always be a way around Microsoft security protocols."
>
>  Other hardware hackers reported similar experiences in online forums,
>with most relating their bans to changes they made in the Xbox hard
>drive. "In all honesty, I'm not really that bothered," said a poster at
>Team Xecuter, a site for mod-chip enthusiasts. "In fact, I kind of
>expected to get banned sooner or later the second I modded my box."
>
>
><http://news.com.com/Is+Microsoft+using+Halo+2+to+thwart+Xbox+hackers/ 
>2100-1043_3-5449160.html>
>
>


<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
EDUCATIONAL CYBERPLAYGROUND 
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com

Net Happenings, K12 Newsletters, Network Newsletters
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/index.html

FREE EDUCATION VENDOR DIRECTORY LISTING
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Directory/default.asp

HOT LIST OF SCHOOLS ONLINE
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Schools/default.asp

Educational CyberPlayGround Services
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/PS/Home_Products.html
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>

Other related posts: