How to Protect Xbox Console from DDoS Attacks

July 3, 2020 By Christine Margret No Comments 6 minutes

Earlier, online gaming was best for nurturing cognitive skills and socializing. However, things took a turn with the advent of sophisticated gaming brands.

Xbox and PlayStation are two of the most popular gaming brands that changed the entire gaming experience.

How to Stop DDoS Attacks on Xbox

Online games are so addictive that it has spawned a competitive sports with prize money in millions of dollars. The insatiable hunger of winning has obliged players to exploit their opponents.

Consequently, new gaming threats are evolving, among which is DDoS attacks.

What do DDoS attacks aim for?
How do DDoS attacks exploitthe Xbox experience?
What cautions can you adopt to avoid Xbox DDoS attacks?

This blog focuses on the above-outlined questions. Let’s cut to the chase and find more relevant details on the topic below.

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What is an Xbox DDoS Attack?

A DDoS Attack refers to the distributed denial-of-service. It is the most common online gaming attack.

DDoS is a malicious practice to send more traffic than a network can respond. As a consequence, the network gets slow or entirely shuts off. Different DDoS have different aims. For example, if a business rival infects your network through DDoS, the purpose is to make your online service non-responsive for hours. Note: DDoS attack lasts for up to 24 hours.

Similarly, an Xbox DDoS attack aims to disrupt acess to the service for millions of gamers. It will make you lose your connection to the service.

How are DDoS attacks exploiting the Xbox experience?

Xbox gaming experience has experienced DDoS attacks before. Xbox could have been called the most secure gaming source before the Lizard squad attack.

The Lizard Squad DDoS attack on Xbox Live and PSN have raised many questions on the gaming networks security. It left Xbox Live unavailable for gamers around the world.

We can’t comment on how secure Xbox is since that attack; what we can do best is to follow security practices to avoid DDoS attacks on the internet. We will also discuss all the preventions later in this blog.

How do the Xbox DDoS attack works?

The DDoS attack works through rental botnet available on the Dark Web. The botnet is a network of infected computers called Zoombies that incessantly send traffic to the targeted IP address until the network becomes overwhelmed.

An Xbox DDoS attack works in the same way. It targets the service and overwhelms the server until it goes down. It means that when the network gets fed many requests simultaneously, your Xbox console and Windows PC may fail to connect to the service. Hence, you lose access to online multiplayer.

Some gamer might just DDoS your IP address (understand IP address here), preventing you from accessing such services.

Unable to access service doesn’t need to be due to a DDoS attack. However, a few revealing signs will help you ensure that you’re under attack.

Here’s what you need to do right away after receiving DDoS requests:

Turn off your router for as long as 10 minutes
Talk to the ISP to find the attacking source
Report to Microsoft’s Xbox support team

Turning off your router disables Botnet from sending requests; consequently, the attack no longer works. Also, contacting your ISP helps you in finding the attacker. The Internet service providers can keep a check on the server and can easily catch the attacking source.

Moreover, if you know the Gamertag of the attacker, then report to Microsoft’s Xbox support team. Here’s how to do that:

Find recent players by pressing Xbox button.
See Gamertag and click on the profile.
Select report then select tampering under report.
Fill in the comment box, then block the user.

Microsoft Cyber Attacks in 2020

In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis has redefined the entire online security. Gaming consoles, routers, and other IoT devices are much more vulnerable today.

The unprecedented business shift from office to online has given fuel to hackers to exploit network security.

In fact, according to Microsoft, during the first week of March, the volume of cyberattacks had nearly reached 1 million a day. It clearly outlines that hacking attempts are on its peak during the COVID-19. Therefore, it’s crucial to prepare for cyber defense.

Xbox DDoS Attacks – How to Secure Yourself

There is one thing you have to realize before we proceed. DDoS attacks on a user who is part of the millions of users is unlikely to happen. DDoS attacks usually target the service itself because it allows a hacker group to make a statement and take all users in a single attempt. There is nothing here that you can do; access to the service depends on its availability.

But there are certain things you can do to enhance security.

Update Xbox Privacy Settings

First and foremost, it’s crucial to tune your Xbox settings. Make sure that you’re only receiving gaming requests from the listed friends. Also, keep your user profile and information on private mode. Don’t add too much of your information on any platform.

Install Antivirus and Firewall Software

Antivirus programs and software firewalls are effective DDoS defense techniques. Firewall and antivirus software protects your device against malware. In addition to the Xbox DDoS attack, Firewall and antivirus programs act as a primary line of defense.

Both programs are designed to detect irregular traffic changes and filter content that result in blocking the requests.

How FastestVPN Prevents DDoS Attacks

DDoS attacks need a destination to attack. VPN spoofs your location so that you don’t receive the attack. Xbox VPN advanced security features keep your connection secure and well-protected on public Wi-Fi networks as well.

FastestVPN protects your network traffic and supports DDoS mitigation with its security features such as smart tunneling, DNS leak protection, Internet kill switch, Wi-Fi security, NAT Firewall, and multiple secure protocols.

Conclusion

You can also setup FastestVPN on your home router to secure Xbox and other IoT devices. Keep your network secure with advanced cybersecurity solutions outlined above and play safely on Xbox or any device every day.