Xbox LIVE Receives Security Update; Microsoft Urge Users to Change Their Passwords

Microsoft has announced new updates to ensure all 40+ million Xbox LIVE users are protected.

The information comes from the Official Xbox Blog:

Xbox LIVE is not simply an online service but a community built upon the trust and investment of its members. I’m pleased to report we’ve worked hard these last several months to further protect our members’ accounts, and more is still to come.

We’ve increased notifications to members whose accounts may be compromised to add proofs, update their passwords, and, if necessary, contact Xbox support. This helps our team lock down an account quickly, investigate and restore the account to the rightful owner.

• We’ve taken legal action to pull down online posts of gamertags, usernames and passwords gathered from malware or phishing schemes to help protect our members.
• Our Xbox LIVE Spring update included many behind the scenes improvements that help us build on security enhancements for the near future.
• We’re sending unique codes to the security phone numbers and secondary email addresses provided by members to verify authorization for Xbox.com purchases or account change attempts not stemming from a member’s trusted device.
• We’re working to reduce market incentives for criminal activity. Engaging in identity theft, trading in stolen accounts and committing credit card fraud are illegal and violate our Terms of Use.

Microsoft was quick to stress that in order for most of the updates to work, users need to keep valid, up-to-date information. The blog post also recommended all Xbox LIVE members take 5 minutes to change their passwords.