Xbox Live Architecture and Technology

Xbox Live will incorporate an extraordinary amount of security to ensure users’ privacy and to help prevent denial-of-service attacks.

When a user first attempts to log on to Xbox Live, the service will authenticate the console (1) to the network and vice-versa (using the Kerberos protocol). The process will happen almost instantaneously without user intervention. (Maintaining consistent user identities is not part of this process, but happens after the console is connected.)

Once authenticated, each Xbox will connect to the Xbox Live service through a security gateway (2). This gateway will use a form of Internet Protocol Security called Encapsulating Security Payload (IPSec ESP) to encrypt all data packets traveling between the console and the service. This will prevent hackers from intercepting and reading data about the session (e.g., which game the user is playing at any given time), and will make it impossible for impostors posing as Xbox users to “spoof” the system using a false IP address, helping Xbox Live prevent denial-of-service attacks. Xbox Live will use technology slated for Windows .NET Server so that the IPSec packets can travel through network address translation (NAT) devices, enabling Xbox users to connect from home networks or from ISPs that use NAT to distribute private IP addresses. (For a detailed discussion of IPSec ESP, see the section “How IPSec Works” in the article “IPSec Enhances Windows Virtual Private Network Security” on page 5 of the Feb. 2002 Update.)