Gaming Reviews, News, Tips and More.
We may earn a commission from links on this page

Hackers Snare Website of Xbox Live's Top Cop [Update]

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Stephen Toulouse, known to many as Stepto, is Microsoft's director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live. That means he's the guy with the biggest, baddest banhammer on that service, making him a prime target for grudge-nursing hackers. Apparently one just seized control of his personal website, stepto.com

Update: A hacker took control of his Xbox Live account, too, calling it payback for being banned 35 times on Xbox Live.

The domain has been taken down by Network Solutions, so who knows what was being done with it or for how long it was compromised and still live. About six hours ago, Toulouse noticed that control of Stepto.com had been handed over "to an attacker," and asked that no one send email to that domain, as it was no longer private.

Advertisement

An hour ago, Toulouse tweeted, Network Solutions told him they're "trying to figure out what happened," but agree that the domain had been compromised.

Advertisement

Toulouse is often the face of major banhammer announcements, such as for playing pirated games or cheating, which makes him despised by many people who like pirating games or cheating. For those who don't, he's a pretty reasonable guy, who approaches his duty with a mix of seriousness and levity, as you can see here in his reading from "The Book of Enforcement" at PAX in 2009.

Advertisement

Last year, Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb, the director of programming on Xbox Live, had his XBL account hacked .

Advertisement