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Security Breach Shuts Down UK Xbox Entertainment Awards Site

A day after going live, the Microsoft’s Xbox Entertainment Awards site has been taken down by a security breach.

The breach caused the inadvertent display names, gamer tags, emails, and birthdays of individuals who have already cast votes. Any user who accessed that part of the site could freely add or remove information from the list.

A source said: “Voting has been suspended and the site has seen been shut down. We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with the Xbox Entertainment Awards landing page and have taken the site offline while we investigate.” The security breach disclosed data for 2,892 users before the site was shut down.

In accordance with the official Xbox Magazine website. “The Xbox Entertainment Awards is a UK-only promotion that asks Xbox Live users to vote for their favorite products in a range that includes games, movies, TV, and music. Initial voting was to take place through March 26, with finalists to be revealed on April 9. Then users would have a week to vote again before finalists were announced on April 17.”

In addition: “Every voter who participated in the Xbox Entertainment Awards was automatically entered into a prize sweepstakes offering various games, Microsoft Point cards, and Xbox Live Gold memberships. The first round grand prize is an Xbox 360 Limited Edition 320GB Halo 4 console with Kinect sensor, while the final round offers a “VIP experience” at Gamescom 2013. The data revealed in the security breach was probably being stored for use in the contest drawings.”

Did you cast your vote already before the security breach? Let us know by posting below.

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