[IP] Microsoft Thwarts Xbox Hackers
Begin forwarded message:
From: EEkid@xxxxxxx
Date: November 14, 2004 10:19:41 AM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Microsoft Thwarts Xbox Hackers
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
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