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Xbox Live Players Targeted In Denial-of-Service Attacks

Posted by Soulskill on from the poor-sports dept.

The BBC reports on a growing trend where some Xbox Live players are launching denial-of-service attacks against those who beat them or otherwise irritate them in games. Quoting: "'The smart thing about these Xbox tools is that they do not attack the Xbox Live network itself,' [Chris Boyd, director of malware research at Facetime Communications said.] He said the tools work by exploiting the way that the Xbox Live network is set up. Game consoles connecting to the Xbox network send data via the net, and for that it needs an IP address. Even better, said Mr Boyd, games played via Xbox Live are not hosted on private servers. The tools mean anyone with a few dollars can boot rivals off Xbox Live. 'Instead,' he said, 'a lot of games on Xbox Live are hosted by players.' ... For $20 (£13) some Xbox Live hackers will remotely access a customer's PC and set up the whole system so it can be run any time they need it. Some offer low rates to add compromised machines to a botnet and increase the amount of data flooding a particular IP address."

7 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. The victims are the winners.. by the_raptor · · Score: 4, Funny

    When I beat someone so badly that they have to resort to those sorts of tactics, I feel like the winner. If that happened to me I would brag for years how I had beaten 1337d00d94 so badly that he had to DDOS me.

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    CINC, 4th Penguin Legion
  2. $20? You cang et it for free by SupremoMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just submit a story full of buzzwords to Slashdot, and instead of linking article link your victims IP address. The editors won't check the link, and your victim will be slashdoted for a while.

    1. Re:$20? You cang et it for free by Rip+Dick · · Score: 3, Funny

      An ingenious evil plan, I admit. But, your one flaw was assuming people will actually RTFA...

    2. Re:$20? You cang et it for free by artor3 · · Score: 2, Funny

      And yet the links always get slashdotted. I suppose it's like New York City, where no drives on account of all the traffic.

  3. Re:Private servers by Rip+Dick · · Score: 3, Funny

    Xboxes (or is it Xboxs?)

    Xboxen?

  4. Took them long enough. by Detaer · · Score: 4, Funny

    XBL has now just caught up to PC gaming in 1995.

  5. The new XBox 360 logo by David+Gerard · · Score: 2, Funny

    You'll know it happens to you when your box's logo turns to one of these. Instantly recognisable!

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    http://rocknerd.co.uk