Reports — some of them from our readers — are circulating that thieves are hacking their way into Xbox Live accounts, perhaps in greater numbers than usual. While Microsoft says it has no evidence that there is an Xbox Live security breach, the Xbox Live general manager says support teams are working hard to retrieve swiped accounts and protect users from threats.

Here’s an excerpt from a statement the GM gave to Kotaku:

I can assure you we are listening and continue to take aggressive steps to help protect you against ever-changing threats. We also care deeply about how this ongoing issue affects your experience with Xbox LIVE and your trust in us.

Security is an ongoing battle. No matter how well we work to improve security – and we are working every day to bring new forms of protection to Xbox LIVE – our work will never end. With every measure we put in place, ill-intentioned people will create new ways to attack online services.

That’s why I believe it’s more important than ever that our members are armed with information and security tools to actively partner with us in this war on fraud. We have a dedicated web page at http://xbox.com/security detailing all the steps you can take today to help protect your account.

On the site, Microsoft says most thieves manage to steal accounts by guessing users’ passwords via social engineering, find passwords from breaches on other services, use malware that captures passwords or tricks users to giving up info via phishing.

If you want to take an extra step to protect your Xbox Live account, consider changing selecting a unique password with gibberish numbers and letters that no one could possibly guess.

Microsoft “Cares Deeply” About Hijacked Accounts, Asks For “Trust in Us” [Kotaku]

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