$1.2 Million Worth of MS Points Taken After Hackers Figure Out Code Algorithm

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday March 10, 2011 @07:12AM from the going-for-the-gusto dept.

The Save and Quit blog reports that a group of hackers figured out the algorithm behind a set of promotional codes that were each redeemable for 160 MS points, the currency used on Xbox Live. Quoting: "A person would just have to sit back and refresh over and over and rack up the 160MSP codes. Not every code would work, but a majority would. The site started to 404 due to the heavy traffic. If you have closer ties to the pirating community, you could find a program to get the codes for you. ... This method took a little more work out of the user, but it was still simple enough for a 12 year old to figure out. ... Microsoft found out about this exploit and put a stop to it immediately, but internet pirates still had enough time to steal $1.2 million worth of Microsoft Points."

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Didn't hack the algorithm by russotto · 2011-03-10 07:29 · Score: 3, Informative

It appears the algorithm wasn't actually determined. Rather, Microsoft essentially left a code generator which took unencrypted parameters available on a web page. Amateur mistake.
1. Re:Didn't hack the algorithm by wbav · 2011-03-10 08:08 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Microsoft has taken action already:
  http://kotaku.com/#!5780686
  
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