I suppose it was only a matter of time before ‘Gamesmanship’ started to appear online. Microsoft is in the process of investigating some underhanded tactics that get Xbox Live players thrown off the network. These tactics, it appears, are being employed by disgruntled players trying to get revenge on opponents who have legitimately beat them online.
These attacks bear similarity to the types of attack that computers and websites have been prone to over recent years. By flooding a website with vast amounts of data it can be rendered useless, this principle is being used in the gaming environment in the same way to get users kicked off the Xbox Live network.
A lot of games played on Xbox are hosted by players, to host a game an IP address is needed and if a hacker can get hold of this address he can flood the address with data making it impossible for a player to connect to the network, effectively ending their game. As the saying goes, you have to be in it to win it, and if you can’t connect to the network your days are numbered.
The skills and knowledge to pull off such an attack are not easy to come by and as a result those that can do it are selling their services. For as little as $20 a hacker will set up a system that you can use any time you need to. So if it looks like you’re going to be killed by the same person for the hundredth time you could just press a button and pull the plug on them. It may not be as satisfying as beating them by legitimate means but it’s something Microsoft has seen occur more often in recent months as dishonest players try to gain the upper hand.
With more than 17 million registered users, the Xbox Live environment is huge and guarding against the attacks is not easy. Microsoft has said anyone using the tools would be banned from Xbox Live but when the only way to stop repeated attacks is to change your IP address, which can take time, it appears these ‘Virtual Assassins’ will claim a few more victims before the problem is sorted out.
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