After its gaff-heavy launch of XBox One in May, in which Microsoft angered the gaming community by including controversial, and since reversed, policies such as requiring players to check in online every 24 hours, Microsoft made a second attempt to win over the hard-core crowd at its Gamescom presentation. This time the focus was all on pleasing gamers with tidbits including a free copy of top-selling soccer title FIFA 14 bundled free with every XBox One pre-ordered in Europe.
LONDON — Authorities in Britain have arrested an 18-year-old man accused of computer-hacking offenses related to days of disruption on Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live services last year.
Police said Friday he was also arrested in connection with false threats in the United States — a practice known as “swatting,” or providing false information suggesting that a threat exists so that police respond with SWAT teams. Authorities declined to say where in the United States the alleged offense occurred.
Craig Jones, head of the police’s cybercrime unit that handled the arrest, the swatting allegation involves “law enforcement forces in the United States receiving hoax calls via Skype for a major incident in which SWAT teams were dispatched.”
The man, who was not identified, was arrested on suspicion of unauthorized access to computer material and threats to kill. Police seized a variety of electronic and digital devices at the suspect’s home for further investigation by specialty units.
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The arrests came as Prime Minister David Cameron was in Washington to meet with President Barack Obama to discuss cyber threats and other issues.
Britain’s South East Organized Crime Unit says it worked with the FBI in the investigation into the alleged activities of the man from Southport, a seaside town in northwest England near Liverpool.
