Redmond (WA) - Microsoft has stepped up its Xbox Live security to ban any console that has been illegally modified from connecting online.

The move comes just as public beta testing of Halo 3 began. According to the Xbox's official Gamerscore blog, this is the main reason for the newly implemented security precaution.

Anyone who has modified their console to get an unfair advantage will no longer be able to sign into Xbox Live. Instead, the console will show a message that says, "This console has been banned for violations of the Terms of Use. To protect the Xbox Live service and its members, Microsoft does not provide details about console bans. There is no recourse for Terms of Use violations."

The user's Live account is not actually banned, so it would be possible to move onto another console without losing profile data. A "banned" console can also still access all offline options.

Section 14 of the Xbox Live terms of use states, "You agree that you are using authorized software and hardware to access the Service, and that your software and hardware have not been modified in any unauthorized way." The license agreement goes on to say that if you violate the terms of use, "your right to use the Service stops right away. Once the Service is cancelled or suspended, any data you have stored on the Service may not be retrieved later. Our cancellation of the Service will not alter your obligation to pay all charges made to your Billing Account."