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Zynga founder Pincus steps down, Xbox Live GM to head Zynga Studios
Zynga Co-Founder Mark Pincus is stepping down as Chief Product Officer of Zynga, the social gaming company announced alongside its first quarter 2014 financial results today. Pincus will continue to serve in a non-operational capacity as Zynga's Chairman of the Board, a role he held in addition to company CEO until Don Mattrick was named CEO in July 2013. Additionally, Alex Garden was announced as President of Zynga Studios in the report. Garden departs Microsoft as the general manager of Xbox Live and Xbox Music, Video and Reading. Prior to that, he was CEO of Nexon Publishing North America. Garden will report directly to Mattrick, much like Zynga's new chief financial officer David Lee, who was hired this month as well. Zynga also added visual effects artist Henry LaBounta as the developer's chief visual officer. LaBounta worked with Electronic Arts and Microsoft Studios, and previously was visual effects supervisor at DreamWorks on the films Minority Report and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. [Image: Zynga]
Microsoft fights back against Xbox Live account threats, begs you to update your security settings
Redmond's console gaming network may not have suffered a breach of security comparable to last year's PSN fumble, but that doesn't mean it hasn't braced for impact. According to Xbox Live General Manager Alex Garden, Microsoft has made great strides in account security by taking legal action against sites who share phished usernames and passwords, enacting two-step login verification for untrusted devices and pushing fresh security updates to devices. Even so, Garden says that many of Xbox Live's account protection measures rely on member profiles being up to date, and heartily encourages users to make sure their security information is accurate. Get the word directly from the horses mouth at the source link below.
XBL GM responds to Live security concerns
On the occasion of "Safer Internet Day" (what?) Xbox Live General Manager Alex Garden posted a letter in response to the ongoing Xbox Live security concerns, including the FIFA hack and Windows Live exploit.Garden attributed the problems to social engineering, phishing, keylogging software, and other reasons not endemic to Xbox or Microsoft. "While we here at Xbox have no evidence of a security breach in the Xbox LIVE service," he said, "that is of little comfort to our members whose accounts have been compromised by malicious and illegal attacks."He recommended personal security measures to guard against this, including adding additional verification methods to your account "and reducing the amount of personal information shared online or through social networks." Additional proof helps guard your info, he said, and also makes it easier for Microsoft to investigate cases and issue refunds. "We still have a few cases that are taking longer to fully recover and some refunds are still being processed," he said, "but we're making great strides. We hope our customers are experiencing the improvements firsthand."
