VOGH Exclusive: Xbox Live Outage Caused For Networking Misconfiguration, Not Hacker Attack

Microsoft Said Xbox Live Outage Caused For Networking Misconfiguration During Routine Maintenance, Not Hacker Attack 

Xbox Live -one of the world's most popular and usually very reliable gaming network which rarely has unexpected outages, nor does Microsoft ever take it down for any extended period of time. But accident occurs, and it happened in last Sunday. The software giant and the developer of Xbox - Microsoft has reported a significant Xbox Live outage, rendering the service unavailable since earlier last 13th afternoon, smack in the middle of the peak weekend usage period. The outage is preventing users from signing in to Xbox Live, blocking access to the online services normally available through the console. While acknowledging the issue, on their official Xbox Live Status page Microsoft said “There is still an issue members are having signing in to Xbox LIVE, we greatly appreciate you sticking it out with us while we work as hard as we can to get this problem fixed. Keep checking back here every 30 minutes for another update on our progress.” This update came from Microsoft at 3:30 Pacific time on 13th of April. As soon as this story get spotted, several hikes rises. Among this buzz, it was a few unnamed hacker who took credit of the Xbox outage, while declaring that a cyber attack. Another buzz which just got spread so quickly, was that the outage of Xbox Live network has been caused by hacker collective Anonymous.  Here we must have to say that those buzz have some solid reasons as couple of months ago Windows Azure faced an organized cyber attack which effected the service of Azure storage, Xbox Live and 52 other. And that outage or in other word service interruption stays for 12 long hours. But unlike earlier, this time the issue get resolved immediately. Within one hour all the service get restored and came back to its normal order. On the same Xbox Live Status page Microsoft said “If you were one of the members who was having issues signing in to Xbox LIVE, good news! This issue has been fixed! Thank you so much for your patience during this time, feel free to go enjoy your favorite games and content!”

So far we have discussed about the story of the outage and it's restoration. Now we will talk about the cause of this interruption. As I have said earlier that the rumor of hacker's attack was there which was claiming responsibility of the Xbox Live outage. But in reality it was not due to cyber attack but some internal network problems. In their official respond of the situation and those buzz Microsoft completely dines all those rumors and said  "The Xbox Live service outage on 13 April resulted from networking misconfiguration during routine maintenance and was in no way related to false claims of hacking the service." 

While talking about Xbox outage, we would like to remind you that - another world famous gaming console 'PlayStation' had fallen victim to cyber attacks. It was Anonymous who hit Sony PSN and caused massive outage, data leak and many other devastating damages. 

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#OpIsrael Continues: KHS & MLA Hacked Several Israeli Govt Websites & Leaked Sensitive Data

Muslim Liberation Army (MLA) & Kosova Hacker Security (KHS) Joins Operation Isreal & Hacked Several Israeli Govt Websites & Leaked Sensitive Data

Operation Israel the devastating hacking rampage continues and becoming more and more venturesome for the Israeli cyber space. In the last week of March, it was dangerous hacker collective group Anonymous who called the operation also dubbed #OpIsrael, where the hacker group vows to erase Israel from the Internet. And as expected this is happening, the first quake came from Turkey-based Marxist hacker group named RedHack and Anonymous, where they targeted Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and breached personal data of 35K officials. Operation Israel, was not among those typical rampage of Anonymous, here Anon called other hackers from different part of of the spectrum to join. First it was RedHack who responded, and now the Muslim Liberation Army lead by Pakistani hacker Hitcher, along with Kosova Hacker's Security & few other Albanian hacker's community joined #OpIsrael. 

Yesterday it was Hitcher from Muslim Liberation Army (MLA) who targeted Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructures (MNI). The hacker managed to breach the server of Israel Ministry and defaced several website belongs to Israel Ministry of Infrastructures. The attack took place at yesterday late night, but still at the time of writing the news, several Israel MNI websites are not performing. Not only MNI, as per sources several other high profile and Israeli government sites have also been taken down in this round attack. While covering this hack of Hitcher, we must have to recap the previous hack of  Pakistan hackers who are constantly against Israel (for Gaza issue) causing massive cyber attack against leading IT industry of Israel and other high profile Israeli sites. Just a couple of months ago, the world seen what it call the black day in the history if Israeli cyber space where another Pak hackers community hacked the main domain controller of Israel, which causes a massive hack against almost all the big Israeli sites such as government, MSN, Bing, Live, Skype, Microsoft Store, BBC, CNN, Coca-Colla, XBOX, Windows, Intel & many more. 

During the hacking rampage, Hitcher delivered the following message - 

“We are outraged at the Palestine present condition and the Illegal occupation of Palestinian Land By the Zionist Israelis. This attack is in response to the Injustice against the Palestinian people. Occupied Palestinian land under the guise of residential settlements are being increased. Palestinians are deprived of their basic human rights. International Aid workers are stopped from providing any humanitarian assistance to the people. The International community and media is not allowed to bring facts to world as due to strict restrictions” 

On the other hand, Kosova Hacker's Security along with few other Albanian hacker's community performed, what it called a demolishing cyber attack, that caused huge damage to the Israeli cyber space. During the attack Kosova Hacker's Security also known as KHS hit several important Israeli government & commercial websites such as  Civil Aviation Authority, Israel Police, Ministry of Health and many more. KHS caused damage to those websites, not by doing defacement by causing data leak. KHS hacked and exposed thousands of sensitive data, including full name, email-id, passwords and other confidential information of those said Israeli websites. All those leaked data have been made available by the hackers in a website called pentagoncrew.com All those hacks have been performed under the banner of Operation Israel also dubbed #OpIsrael for the cause of Gaza. For instance, here we can recap the hack of Kosova Hackers Security (KHS) where they hacked and exposed personal data of 35,000 Israeli people. 

At conclusion, we want to say that, at the time when Anonymous first called Operation Israel, Israeli government presumed that they have taken the threat very seriously and from the government end it has been  stated that they will take almost every steps to avoid any kind of disaster. Now after observing the above scenario it is clear that Israel Government have completely failed to protect their cyber space, in spite of having precaution. Also another thing get spot light, that is different hackers community have already came under a single shade in order to hit Israel against Gaza & Palestine issue. Today is the historical 7th April, I mean the day which Anonymous promised to erase Israel from the Internet. So the clock is running, lets see what more is about to come.  for the time stay tuned with VOGH to get all the latest update on this story and also other cyber issues. 

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Anonymous Threatens Israel to Erase From The Internet (#OpIsrael)

Anonymous Threatens Israel to Erase From The Internet (#OpIsrael)

Infamous hacker collective group Anonymous along with some organized hacker communities together started a massive rampage against Israeli cyber space. The hacker group threatened Israel government while  planning to engage a massive cyber-attack on Israel, saying that, they will "erase" the country from the Internet. From some legitimate sources it has been confirmed that the hackers are planning to execute the attack on 7th of April. One of the twitter account of Anonymous also confirmed the date and timing, while saying "Hacktivists Starting Cyber Attack against Israel on 7th of April." Also twitter feed of Anonymous invited numerous hackers communities around the world to join up for the cyber rampage dubbed Operation  Israel Phase 2 (#OpIsrael). On the other hand Israel government took the threat seriously and taking almost every steps to avoid any kind of disaster. Ofir Ben Avi, director of online group Accessible Government of Israel told the media -“It’s something being organized online over the past few days. What distinguishes this plan when compared to previous attacks is that it really seems to be organized by Anonymous-affiliated groups from around the world in what looks like a joining of forces”

As you all might know that past experience of Israel while dealing hackers was not at all sweet. In case of Anonymous then we would like to remind you that, this would be the second attack on Israel by the group, as they launched the first “OpIsrael” in November 2012 in response to Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip.  If you dig the recent past you will come to know that not only Anonymous, but also hackers from different part of the world targeted Israeli cyber space and caused big damages. For instance we can recap the hack of Kosova Hackers Security (KHS) where they hacked and exposed personal data of 35,000 Israeli people. Here we must have to name the hackers from Pakistan who are constantly against Israel causing massive cyber attack against leading IT industry of Israel and other high profile Israeli sites. Just a couple of months ago, the world seen what it call the black day in the history if Israeli cyber space where another Pak hackers community hacked the main domain controller of Israel, which causes a massive hack against almost all the big Israeli sites such as government, MSN, Bing, Live, Skype, Microsoft Store, BBC, CNN, Coca-Colla, XBOX, Windows, Intel & many more. Here we can also take the name of Indian hacker Godzilla & Arabian hacker community (Group-XP) who also harassed and harmed the Israeli cyber space very very badly. After observing all the scenario mentioned above, it is expected to watch some sensational fight between hackers and Israeli government. So lets wait for the time, and stay tuned with VOGH to get all the latest update on this story and also other cyber issues.

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Hackers Hit Microsoft Windows Azure Causing 12 Hour Outage, Affecting Xbox & 52 Other Services

Hackers Hit Microsoft Windows Azure Causing 12 Hour Outage, Affecting Xbox & 52 Other Services 

Windows Azure the cloud computing platform of Microsoft for building, deploying and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters  faced an unwanted disaster due to organized cyber attack which interrupted its service world wide. While looking at the scenario the Redmond based software giant sincerely apologize for the interruption and any issues it has caused and declared that they will  refund Windows Azure customers impacted by the said outage last week caused by an expired SSL certificate. The Windows Azure Storage outage affected at least 52 services, including Xbox Live on Thursday night and Friday. 

In a blog post while describing the situation Microsoft said - "HTTP traffic was unaffected but the event impacted a number of Windows Azure services that are dependent on Storage.  We executed the repair steps to update the SSL certificate on the impacted clusters and availability was restored to >99% worldwide by 1:00 AM PST on February 23.  At 8:00 PM PST on February 23, we completed the restoration effort and confirmed full availability worldwide. Given the scope of the outage, we will proactively provide credits to impacted customers in accordance with our SLA. The credit will be reflected on a subsequent invoice.  Our teams are also working hard on a full root cause analysis (RCA), including steps to help prevent any future reoccurrence."

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Google Pakistan Hacked & Defaced By Turkish Hacker

Google Pakistan Along With Microsoft  HP, HSBC, Apple, PayPal, Blogspot Hacked & Defaced By Turkish Hacker

Today was most probably the worst day in the history of Pakistan cyber space. Ten big domains of Pakistan has been stroked very badly. Many of you are guessing that it was Indian hackers who cost this damage. But in reality the attack was not generated from India, Bangladesh or such any other native countries,  but it was a Turkish hacker who have reportedly taken down the home and search page of Google Pakistan while leaving an image of two penguins walking across a bridge for million of users. I think now you got that, yes it was Google Pakistan which has been hacked and defaced by a Turkey hacker code named "KriptekS". In the deface page the hacker left several messages in Turkish language, the translation of the text, written on the website, is: "eboz. My homies in a friend always there for me. Have not shot by me with every breath." Also the hacker left a message saying "Pakistan Downed" which is indicating that the home page of Google Pakistan is indeed take down. According to deface mirror on Zone-H, the attack took place around 02:17 in the afternoon, but still, when I am writing this article, the home page of Google Pakistan is still offline. 

May be you are thinking that the story is over, but no; as I told earlier it was the worst day for Pakistani cyber fence, trust me indeed it was. As along with Google, KriptekS, the Turkish hacker also targeted Pakistani domain of Blogger, HSBC, Coca-Cola, Fanta, Paypal, Microsoft, HP & Apple. Also it has been reported that Pakistani domain of Sony, Yahoo & Windows has also been allegedly hacked. And all those hacked domains are still offline. 

List of Hacked Sites:-

http://www.google.com.pk
http://www.google.pk
http://www.hp.com.pk
http://www.apple.pk
http://www.hsbc.pk
http://www.blogspot.pk
http://www.coca-cola.pk
http://www.fanta.pk
http://www.paypal.pk
http://www.microsoft.pk
www.visa.com.pk
www.ebay.pk
www.msn.org.pk
www.sony.pk
www.windows.com.pk
www.yahoo.pk


Deface Mirrors:-

http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18639529
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18639530
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18639528
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18639527
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638930
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638890
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638879
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638866
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638824
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638825
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638826
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638827
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638828
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638820
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638822
http://zone-h.com/mirror/id/18638823


While talking about this dangerous cyber attack, we would like to remind you that few days ago couple of Pakistani hackers defaced several big Israeli domains including MSN, Bing, Live, Skype, Microsoft Store, BBC, CNN, Coca-Colla, XBOX, Windows, Intel, Philips, Israeli Parliament, Citi Bank and so on. Whether it is not clear that this attack on Pakistan has nay relation with that attack on Israel. But what we can say is that "KriptekS" exactly followed the same path, which Pak hackers shown the world few days ago. 

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Israeli Domain of MSN, Bing, Skype, Microsoft Store, BBC, CNN & Many More High Profile Israeli Sites Hacked

Israeli Domain of MSN, Bing, Skype, Microsoft Store, BBC, CNN & Many More High Profile Israeli Sites Hacked

More hackers taking part in the Israeli rampage dubbed Operation Israel. As soon as the story of bombing and air strike in Gaza get spotted on the social networks, we have seen immediate protest coming from almost every part of the world. In case of digital bombing, then it was first Anonymous who called Operation Israel, then hackers from different part of the world joined and contributed in this combined protest. So far we have seen along with Anon, Pakistani hacker Hitcher from Muslim Liberation Army, Indian hacker Godzilla, & Kosovo Hackers Security have played vital role in this rampage. But now the scenario is going from bad to worse for Israeli cyber space, as a group of Pakistani hackers hit a large number of high profile Israeli domain. Those big giants who have fallen victim in this round of cyber attack from Pakistan are MSN, Bing, Live, Skype, Microsoft Store, BBC, CNN, Coca-Colla, XBOX, Windows, Intel, Philips, Israeli Parliament, Citi Bank and few more. According to sources more than 44 million hacking attempts have been made on Israeli government web sites since Wednesday. Attempts on defense related sites have been the highest, while 10 million attempts have been made on the site of Israel's president, 7 million on the Foreign Ministry and 3 million on the site of the prime minister.

Complete List:-

pm.parliament.co.il

www.skype.co.il 

www.cnn.co.il 

intelcore.co.il 

www.msn.org.il 

passport.org.il 

www.microsoftstore.co.il 

intelatom.co.il 

www.opel.co.il 

philips.co.il 

bing.co.il 

bbc.org.il 

pantene.co.il 

paypass.co.il 

amazonunbox.co.il 

windowslive.co.il 

windows.co.il 

www.nbcuni.co.il 

citibank.co.il 

blog.fanta.co.il 

blog.sprite.co.il 

sprite.org.il 

xbox360.co.il 

www.xboxfusion.co.il 

cocacola.co.il 

coke.co.il 

www.xboxignite.co.il 

www.intelappup.co.il 

www.intel.co.il 

live.co.il 

solarwinds.co.il 

live.org.il 

www.msn.co.il 

Both the screen shot of the deface page and Zone-H mirror is saying that four hackers from Pakistan named 1337, H4x0rL1f3, ZombiE_KsA & Invectus were behind this massive cyber attack. Though a post on popular hackers forum named Sec4ever we came to know that ZombiE_KsA denied his relation with this hack. As usual self claimed famous security news blog, The Hacker News, tried to do a publicity stunt, while morphing the original news. Chasing fake publicity and money, the ready made source of news, also known as The Hacker News forgot the importance of  the situation in Gaza.

According to the view of VOGH, it hardly matters who take part in this hack, but what matters is that, a few human stand for humanity & humanity is beyond any religion, any cast and any color. So far the world have seen an instance of cruelty and inhumane of Israeli army, where the people of Gaza have been tortured brutally. The peace loving people across the world have already stood against this relentless practice. And when Anonymous called Operation Israel, that protest became a digital bombing. We the entire VOGH team salute those people across the globe, who have actively taken part in this protest. Its our world, its our home, and all the people in it are our family, so its our foremost responsibility to take care those members and stand with them. 

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Registration Open For Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2013, Prize Money Boosted

Registration Open For Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2013, Prize Money Boosted 

After the success of  'Blue Hat' Security Contest, now it is the time for Microsoft’s Imagine Cup. Redmond based software giant Microsoft has been organizing its Imagine Cup student technology competition for the last 10 years and today, the company opened registration for the 2013 edition of this event. Students ages 16 and older can now register for their national events and the winners of these local events will be flown to St. Petersburg, Russia, where the worldwide finals will take place from July 8 to 11. For this edition of Imagine Cup, Microsoft has doubled the prize money to $300,000. Since the first Imagine Cup in 2003, says Microsoft, over 1.65 million students across the globe have participated in Imagine Cup and a number of the teams that made it to the finals (and many that have not) went on to create startups.

Here is Microsoft’s description of the new core competitions:

• World Citizenship: Honors the software application developed on Microsoft platforms with the greatest potential to make a positive impact on humanity. For example, a project might address education-, social- or healthcare-related problems.
• Games: Honors the most engaging and entertaining games targeting teens and youth, built on Microsoft platforms (Windows 8, Windows Phone, Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit, and Xbox Indie Games).
• Innovation: Honors apps that give consumers inspiration and innovation at their fingertips, whether it be a new spin on social networks, online shopping or search, built with Microsoft tools and technology.

The winners of each of these competitions will get $50,000. In addition to the core competitions, students can also compete in a number of online challenges focused on specific technologies and platforms, including Windows 8, Windows Azure and Windows Phone. For detailed information click Here.

-Source (Microsoft, Imagine Cup & TC)

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Microsoft Launched Windows 8 Release Preview (Final Pre-Release Version of Windows 8)

Microsoft Launched Windows 8 Release Preview (Final Pre-Release Version of Windows 8)

After Consumer Preview Windows 8 & Windows 8 Developer Preview now Microsoft just announced final pre-release version of Windows 8 named Windows 8 Release Preview. Windows 8 is considered to be the biggest change in decades to Microsoft's widely used operating system. In a blog post, Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft's top Windows executive, touted the Release Preview as the "final pre-release" build, and talked about the next milestone, RTM, for "release to manufacturing," the label that describes the completed version used by computer makers to pre-install the operating system on new PCs. 

The software displays applications in a mosaic of tiles and has been designed so it can run desktop, laptop and tablet computers. In this final pre-release, and includes Windows 8, Internet Explorer 10, new Windows 8 apps for connecting to Hotmail, SkyDrive, and Messenger (and many more), and hundreds of new and updated apps in the Windows Store. Other new apps in this release include a Bing Travel app, as well as Gaming and Music Xbox apps that integrate with Microsoft’s Zune music service. Microsoft says that it will focus its resources before launching the final version of Windows 8 on improving the installation process, security and privacy, as well as device and software compatibility. As Microsoft’s president of its Windows Division Steven Sinofsky noted, his team “will still be changing Windows 8, as we have done in past releases of Windows.”

Microsoft also says that it has increased personalization options for the Start screen and refined the way “the way people find and download apps through the Windows Store.” The touch-friendly Metro version of Internet Explorer now also supports Adobe’s Flash player and features a Do Not Track feature that is turned on by default.
 

 To Download Windows 8 Release Preview Click Here

 

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Apple Working On TV With Integrated Voice/Motion Controller & Gaming Console

Apple Working On TV With Integrated Voice/Motion Controller & Gaming Console

Apple is planning an assault on the living room with a TV that will come equipped with an Apple-branded, Kinect-like video game console. According to sources Apple is working on a television set with an iTunes-integrated touch screen remote and Siri-like voice command technology. The TV set will be coming before the end of 2012. Rumors and patents have said as much for the past year, so that’s nothing new. But that’s not all we’ve heard. Also it has come to light that Apple’s television set will come with an Apple-branded, Kinect-like video game console. The interface will rely heavily on motion and touch controls. The rumor gained more traction following claim made by Walter Isaccson in Steve Jobs’ biography that the late Apple CEO would ‘like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use’ that would ‘ seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. ‘Jobs also claimed to have ‘finally cracked’ the user interface problem to make the whole package easy to use.
Here comes few Doubts:-

• Outside of the iOS platform (iPhone and iPad), Apple isn’t known as a gaming company.

• A TV with a built-in voice and motion controller and a games console? How much is this thing going to retail for exactly?

• The games console market is tightly stitched up by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Breaking into this new market would be extremely difficult.

• Valve does have a portfolio of Mac games, but not enough to create a new ecosystem for a games console.

• Apart from branding, what differentiates an Apple games experience from PC/Mac/Xbox 360/PS3?

• Wouldn’t it make more sense for Apple to bring iOS games into the living room through an updated Apple TV set top box? There’s a massive ecosystem of games here ready to exploit, along with a healthy developer base.

• That said, folks who own an iPhone/iPad and an Apple TV device can use AirPlay to put games on any HDMI-enabled TV without the need for an Apple-branded TV or an Apple-branded games console. Where does a console fit into the picture?

-Source (Cut of Mac, Forbes, Rumor) 

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Department of Homeland Security & U.S. Navy Hires Company To Hack Into Video Game Consoles

Department of Homeland Security & U.S. Navy Hires Company To Hack Into Video Game Consoles 

The U.S. government has hired a California-based company to hack into video game consoles, such as Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, to watch criminals, especially child predators, and learn how to collect evidence against them. The $177,000 contract with Obscure Technologies of San Rafael, Calif., is being executed by the U.S. Navy on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security because of the Navy’s expertise in the field, officials said. Under the contract, Obscure Technologies will purchase used gaming systems from abroad that are believed to hold “sensitive information from previous users” and try to hack into them. Obscure’s experts will then report back on how they gained access to the systems, provide instructions to obtain users’ chat room activity, and even report back on the data gleaned, according to the contract and tasking documents. Obscure will also purchase new systems and construct a device that can capture data and activity, the documents state.
Over the past few decades, video game systems have grown in sophistication and capabilities by leaps and bounds. Consoles like the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Xbox can be found in many U.S. households and are popular among servicemembers, with Internet access and hard drives that rival personal computers.
With these advances, Garfinkel said, the systems have become a playground of illegal activity for criminals. In 2008, law enforcement agencies contacted the DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate and requested help in analyzing gaming systems seized during court-authorized searches, Garfinkel said. While some tools exist to extract data from gaming consoles, the consoles are hard to crack as they are designed with copyright protection systems, he said. Navy and DHS officials declined to comment on whether the gaming consoles of Americans will ever be hacked and monitored. They also declined to comment as to whether the system manufacturers had been approached about this research.

-Source (Stars & Stripes)

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Microsoft Planned To Release Skype Application For Windows Mobile

Microsoft Planned To Release Skype Application For Windows Mobile

Microsoft Corporation has planned to release Skype video-calling application for its Windows Phone. The application will be avalable on April this year. Terry Myerson, head of the Redmond, Washington-based company’s mobile business, said in an interview last week. It will unveil the software today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, and release a version for beta testers. Terry Myerson, head of the Redmond, Washington-based company’s mobile business, said in an interview last week. It will unveil the software today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, and release a version for beta testers.
Microsoft bought Skype to gain customers and enhance its existing products -- such as Windows phones and Xbox game consoles, along with Internet-calling and videoconferencing software. Skype customers made more than 300 billion minutes of calls last year, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said in January. The service, which handles both voice and video calls, is the top provider of international calling. Windows Phone has just 2 percent of the mobile operating- system market, and lags behind Apple Inc. and Google Inc. in providing apps. Both those rivals already have Skype apps.
Microsoft bought Skype to gain customers and enhance its existing products -- such as Windows phones and Xbox game consoles, along with Internet-calling and videoconferencing software. Skype customers made more than 300 billion minutes of calls last year, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said in January. The service, which handles both voice and video calls, is the top provider of international calling.
Windows Phone has just 2 percent of the mobile operating- system market, and lags behind Apple Inc. and Google Inc. in providing apps. Both those rivals already have Skype apps.

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Microsoft Shutdown Fake Domain Of Halo 4 Beta

Fake Domain Of Halo 4 Beta Shutdown By Microsoft 

We know that you all are very familiar with one of world's famous game Halo. Since few months some cyber criminals started a fake domain for Halo. It was Halo4beta.net but today Microsoft has unleashed its finest legal hounds against the owners of the domain name Halo4beta.net. 

The move comes after David Ellis, creative director of 343 industries, through his Twitter account warned that this website, which claims to allow sign up for Halo 4 beta, is fake. Apparently Microsoft has filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum. But the operator appears to have shut down the website. It looks like Microsoft did not consider the move enough and is starting to apply the legal thumbscrews. Most people think that Microsoft will be successful in pursuing the National Arbitration Panel to order the transfer of the name. In June 2011 Microsoft acquired the domain name Halo4.com paying an undisclosed amount. Halo 4 will be in the shops for the Xbox 360 by the end of 2012.

-Source (FudZilla)

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Xbox Live Has Not Been Hacked, Said Microsoft

Microsoft has denied claims that Xbox LIVE has been hacked, despite reports suggesting the online gaming service had suffered a security breach exposing user data. The company took to its official Facebook page after UK newspaper The Sun alleged gamers had lost between £100 and £20o each ($156-313); in fact, Microsoft clarified, victims had been the unfortunate quarry of a phishing scam. 

Microsoft is now apparently working with those Xbox LIVE users affected by the scams to re-secure their accounts, as well as suggesting that all gamers take care over what emails they open and what links they click on.

In a Statement Microsoft Said:-

"Xbox Live has not been hacked. Microsoft can confirm that there has been no breach to the security of our Xbox Live service. In this case, a number of Xbox Live members appear to have recently been victim of malicious 'phishing' scams  (ie. online attempts to acquire personal information such as passwords, user names and credit card details by purporting to be a legitimate company or person). The online safety of Xbox LIVE members remains of the utmost importance, which is why we consistently take measures to protect Xbox LIVE against ever-changing threats. As a result, we are currently:

Working closely with affected members who have been in touch with us to investigate and/or resolve any unauthorized changes to their accounts resulting from phishing scams;

Warning people against opening unsolicited e-mails which may contain spyware and other malware that can access personal information contained on their computer without their knowledge or permission;

Reminding all customers that they should be very careful to keep all personal information secure whenever online and never supply e-mail addresses, passwords or credit card information to strangers.

Microsoft remains vigilant at all times regarding the security of Xbox LIVE customers. As always, Xbox LIVE customers who have any queries or concerns should contact Xbox LIVE Customer Service on 0800 587 1102 or visit www.xbox.com/security."

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