On December 20, my Xbox Live account was hacked. The breach was sophisticated, more so than Microsoft wants to acknowledge, but at the heart of it is EA’s popular sports franchise FIFA.
This breach isn’t a new, hip hack that is sweeping the net, it has been happening for quite some time. My Xbox Live account housed over 3,000 MS Points and in one fell swoop, my balance was wiped clean.
Utilizing FIFA 12, players can purchase and trade digital cards with other Live members. Though this feature is also available in games like Madden NFL 12, the worldwide popularity of FIFA 12 has made it a breeding ground for criminal scum. Players get into Xbox Live accounts, purchase card packs, trade them to other accounts, and later sell the content for real money. Xbox Live breaches are not new, but the FIFA 12 hack is putting everyone on Xbox Live at risk in a new way.
These content packs have a monetary value attached to them, giving hackers a new reason to hunt for accounts. Hackers can jump into an account, run a balance, sell the content, and jump out. In some cases, they take an account over. Why this didn’t happen to me is because my account doesn’t have a valid credit card associated with it.
Detailed news link: here
