Hacking and phishing attacks are becoming an increasingly common experience for Xbox users.

"Chris Boyd (AKA PaperGhost) - who recently joined Sunbelt Software as a security researcher and is a long-time dedicated gamer - has studied the growth of tricks designed to allow hackers to take over privileged Xbox accounts via social engineering or launch denial of service attacks against rivals," writes The Register's John Leyden.

"He warns the development of serious malware and social engineering threats in the world of online gaming has made the environment as risky as other parts of the net," Leyden writes. "These threats are not being taken seriously enough by either gamers or the industry itself, Boyd warns."

Click here to read the article at The Register.