cover of episode 136: Team Xecuter

136: Team Xecuter

2023/8/1
logo of podcast Darknet Diaries

Darknet Diaries

AI Chapters Transcript
Chapters
Someone successfully bypassed Steam's game publishing review process by creating a deliberately boring game called "Watch Paint Dry" and exploiting a vulnerability in the website's input validation. The game was briefly available for download before Steam removed it.
  • Exploitation of a vulnerability in Steam's website allowed game publishing without review.
  • "Watch Paint Dry" game used to test and demonstrate vulnerability.
  • Steam subsequently fixed the vulnerability.

Shownotes Transcript

Team Xecuter was a group involved with making and selling modchips for video game systems. They often made mods that allowed the video game system to rip games or play pirated games. It was a crowd favorite in the modding scene. Until it all fell apart. The story of what happened to Team Xecuter must be heard to believe.

This episode features Gary Bowser. You can find more about Gary here:

https://twitter.com/Bowser_GaryOPA

https://garyopa.com/

https://www.gofundme.com/f/garyopa-restarting-his-life?utm_location=darknetdiaries

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Axonius. The Axonius solution correlates asset data from your existing IT and security solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory of all devices, users, cloud instances, and SaaS apps, so you can easily identify coverage gaps and automate response actions. Axonius gives IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity by mitigating threats, navigating risk, decreasing incidents, and informing business-level strategy — all while eliminating manual, repetitive tasks. Visit axonius.com/darknet to learn more and try it free.

Support for this show comes from Thinkst Canary. Their canaries attract malicious actors in your network and then send you an alert if someone tries to access them. Great early warning system for knowing when someone is snooping around where they shouldn’t be. Check them out at https://canary.tools.

Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker. ThreatLocker has built-in endpoint security solutions that strengthen your infrastructure from the ground up with a zero trust posture. ThreatLocker’s Allowlisting gives you a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker provides zero trust control at the kernel level. Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.

Sources

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/10/27/ringleader-pleads-guilty-in-phone-fraud/56e551bb-a727-43e8-a3ca-1c1f4cf6ef82/

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao/legacy/2010/10/12/usab4304.pdf

https://www.eurogamer.net/nintendo-to-appeal-not-guilty-judgement-of-flash-cart-sellers-7

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/nintendo-pounces-on-global-piracy-outfit

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-members-notorious-videogame-piracy-group-team-xecuter-custody

https://medium.com/swlh/watch-paint-dry-how-i-got-a-game-on-the-steam-store-without-anyone-from-valve-ever-looking-at-it-2e476858c753#.z05q2nykc

https://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2022/05/27/voler-des-societes-qui-font-des-milliards-qu-est-ce-que-j-en-ai-a-faire-max-louarn-c-ur-de-hackeur_6127821_1653578.html

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/20/21579392/nintendo-big-house-super-smash-bros-melee-tournament-slippi-cease-desist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7VwtOrwceo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sNIE5anpik