Stefan Mileschin

Microsoft has just confirmed that a group of hackers have indeed accessed the Xbox Live accounts of several of its past and present "high-profile" employees. News of the breach was first reported by Ars Technica, which itself had been the victim of a DoS attack this last weekend, potentially linked to the same group. Evidence pointing to hacking collective Team Hype's alleged involvement surfaced when videos depicting its efforts were found online; videos that demonstrated the group's reported use of illegally obtained Social Security data to gain access to and sell off Xbox Live user accounts. According to Microsoft's recently issued statement, the company's working with authorities to "disable this current method" and cut off the possibility of future attacks. For now, it appears this security compromise is unrelated to a UK incident which saw Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Award voting app temporarily expose user data. We'll update you as soon as we hear more.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/m...counts-hacked/