Hackers charged with stealing Xbox One development kits from Microsoft

A total of four people involved in an incredible plot to hack into multiple companies and steal intellectual property face various charges, including copyright infringement, identity theft and theft of trade secrets, infiltrating various video game companies and attempting to sell counterfeit Xbox One development kits prior to the console's launch last year.

According to the Kotaku report:

The various hacking schemes stretched back to January 2011, according to the [Department of Justice], and involve everything from the theft of the game Gears of War 3 nearly a year before its official release to the allegedly successful effort to sell a counterfeit pre-release Xbox One development kit on eBay for $5,000.

Canadian David Polora and America Sanadodeh Nesheiwat are considered to have been working with Australian hacker SuperDaE. The report gets more interesting when we reach to the part covering Microsoft's Xbox One developer kits.

It's alleged the two hackers conspired with two thieves to obtain Xbox One development kits from a secure building on Microsoft's Redmond campus. The indictment states that, "using stolen access credentials to a Microsoft building [the two alleged thieves] entered the building and stole three non-public versions of the Xbox One console." The group then attempted to sell counterfeit pre-release kits on eBay.

The Department of Justice claims the US "has seized over $620,000 in cash and other proceeds related to the charged conduct" of said parties involved, while total damages range between $100-200 million. The two hackers, Polora and Nesheiwat, pleaded guilty and face up to five years in prison with potential fines of at least $250,000.

Be sure to read through the Kotaku report for more details.

Source: Kotaku

Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

16 Comments
  • Criminals never learn
  • If the criminal want a mutual agreement they could put him to labor in Microsoft.
  • Maybe Sony got a tip to what ms was doing long ago ?
  • "Hackers [steal] Xbox One development kits," make a better version of Watch_Dogs.
  • All I have to say is: Criminals. Rekt.
  • Is America Sanadodeh's name or are they American?
  • I believe he meant American since the former guy was described as being Canadian.
  • Terrible
  • Haha they get out of prison and discover there banned from Xbox live and have bricked Xbox One consoles haha!
  • Haha LOL
  • Lol
  • Sounds like a movie :P have to admit that was a good plan, but selling on eBay? That's like saying "here's your proof that I stole" it seems odd that after hatching a brilliant plan to hack and steal, they simply got lazy and used eBay. Lol oh well
  • I would watch that movie.
  • Idiots. You think just because you have a plan that u wont go to jail? Get real
  • What! Only five years! Wow!
  • I wonder if back then Sony has somehow used the information related to stolen xbox ones. Perhaps this is how they got informed about Xbox one hardware and tweaked PS4 to make it more powerful and appealing to the final customer? Can it be so?