Security: June 2008 Archives

Incoming is a regular part of From the Abbey to Outlands where the author will rant at length about a topic that is frustrating or aggravating in the World of Warcraft. Keep reading for more, we have a Rant Incoming!

You may have heard that the new Blizzard Authenticator is now available for purchase from the Blizzard Store. It's a great little device which will increase account security an enormous amount, and could potentially be the catalyst to the elimination of the account hacking going on by Gold Sellers. That is, of course, if everyone can get it, which they can't. "This product can only be shipped to the United States." is what you will see if you go to the Authenticator item page I linked to before. Now, however, there is an item page on the European Blizzard Store, which does not limit where it can be shipped, though the item is not yet actively for sale.

The following is an email I sent to Blizzard's billing department after getting off the phone with a rep who pretty much had no clue why it wasn't for sale to Canadians, and was guessing distribution issues.

I would like to express my frustration that Blizzard is not shipping the new Authenticator to Canada. This device is a great idea, and should increase the security of accounts substantially, but it cannot do that if we cannot buy it. I fail to see why the USA and Europe are the only are the only areas who are allowed to maintain the highest level of security on their accounts, while other countries must sit back and simply hope their accounts don't get hacked. I guess one has to question if, in addition to contests, Blizzard has a complete lack of respect that extends to not caring about our security. I am sad to see this come to pass.

I look forward to a response from Blizzard, even if it only comes in the form of a change in that policy so that we here in Canada can enjoy the same level of security as others in the US and EU.

[Update: Blizzard has now posted both about the sell out and the lack of availability to Canadians. Thank you Blizzard for answering the questions I and others had.]

Acquiescing to the many criticisms and demands, Blizzard took a page from the books of PayPal when they announced today that they will begin selling a security ID keyfob to increase the security of accounts exponentially. The key chain sized device will, when triggered, generate a 6 digit code that can be entered into the game client once the device is connected to your account.

The good thing about these types of devices, similar ones are in use by such groups as the FCC, the aforementioned PayPal, and many businesses and governments departments with sensitive data accessed remotely, is that a keylogger only does half the job. The hacker or trojan can get a hold of my username and password all they want, but once my account has been associated with this, the game will deny access unless the 6 digit code output by the device is present as well.

What does this mean to you? This means that your character, be it a level 19 twink, a level 60 non upgraded, or a 70 in full tier 6 and Sunwell, can be safe from the many looming threats on the internet. The even better thing? One device can be used for multiple accounts, so multi boxers only need 1 device for all of their many accounts. I feel that this is a long overdue addition to our gaming world and very good thing for account security in the World of Warcraft.

Some might think that this kind of technology for a measly game is a waste of the technology. I would say that since the technology has become cost efficient enough and small enough for this purpose means a great deal for the future of security in our offline and online lives. That, however, is a story for another blog, and another blogger. For us, for now, it just means that for less than the cost of a month of play, we can afford to protect our multi year investment in our characters.