I’ve heard a lot about accounts being hacked lately. I know a lot of players are concerned about it. The more people play WoW, the more potential profit there is in stealing our accounts for nefarious purposes … and the harder the hackers will try to do just that.
Now there are a lot of different ways to protect your account and none of them are perfect. Many people use a complex layering of protections: using a no-script plug-in for their browser, getting a good virus scanner, changing their password every month, typing all Blizzard links into their browser manually, setting up separate e-mail accounts with separate passwords for their Blizzard accounts … and not sharing their account information, of course.
Keeping all of that straight can be a bit overwhelming, though, and it still isn’t perfect. In fact, a Microsoft researcher named Cormac Herley has studied the effectiveness of various security techniques and found that : “Most security advice simply offers a poor cost-benefit trade-off to users.” (Check out his fascinating paper in PDF form: “So Long and No Thanks for the Externalities: The Rational Rejection of Security Advice by Users.”)
Luckily for us in the WoW world, we have one more option. The single most effective method to protect your World of Warcraft account is to use either a Battle.Net Authenticator or a Battle.Net Mobile Authenticator.
Basically, the authenticator makes it impossible to log into your account unless you have access to a particular physical item — either a key fob authenticator or a device like a cell phone running the mobile authenticator app. And that means that, for the most part, a hacker would have to steal your physical item before they could steal your WoW account — which is way less likely than managing to get a keylogger onto your computer. The authenticator still isn’t perfect — but it’s the single most effective protection we have.
Problem is, not everyone has the money to buy an authenticator, or the right cell phone or what have you to use the mobile version. The physical authenticator is USD 6.50 or EUR 6,99 — but if you don’t have the money then you don’t have the money.
So here’s the deal: I’m going to give away 12 authenticators: 6 for the US, 3 for the EU, and 3 for the Canada/Australia/New Zealand/Latin America region. (I have no idea why Blizzard splits them up that way, but they do.) This is a simple random drawing. I’ll split the entries up into lists from each region, randomize them, and then generate random indices into the lists to pick the winners.
Here’s what you need to do to enter:
- Leave a comment on this post. The first line must be “I want an authenticator! I am in the ___ region.”
- Fill out the blank with the letters US, EU, or AU. (I apologize to the players in Canada, New Zealand, and Latin America. You are still eligible! I just needed a two-letter abbreviation for the third region.)
- Make sure you use a valid e-mail address for the comment. That’s how I’ll be contacting you if you win.
- Post your comment before 23:59 UTC on June 7th, 2010. (That’s 7:59pm EDT on June 7th.)
- If you win, I will ask you for a real name and a physical address so I can have the authenticator mailed to you.
I will not share your name, e-mail address, or physical address with anyone, of course. I will post a list of the winners here, using the name you left on your comment, after the drawing.
I’ll do the drawing on June 8th and contact the winners shortly thereafter. Unless something goes wrong, I should get the authenticators mailed out on the 8th as well, but Blizzard says that it can take up to three weeks for them to arrive.
I want an authenticator! I am in the US region.
I want an authenticator! I am in the EU region.
Very generous of you to offer this prize. Good luck everyone :)
I want an authenticator! I am in the US region.
I want an authenticator! I am in the US region.
“I want an authenticator! I am in the US region.”
its your old buddy nenva! you left my realm farstriders awhile back ]: you know whats funny? june 7th is my 16th birthday =p
I want an authenticator! I am in the EU region.
^_^
I want an authenticator! I am in the US region.
That’s a pretty spectacular thing you’re doing there, Mania!
I want an authenticator! I am in the US region.
I want an authenticator! I am in the AU region.
I’ve been thinking about getting one, the biggest thing stopping me is it always gets put into the “later” catergory :P
I want an authenticator! I am in the EU region.
^_^
It is a wonderful thing that you are doing for whom ever may win I don’t need one but I do understand the importance of having one. I purchased 2 at the time I was unaware that I only needed one for both my accounts. but I have been hacked twice and the second time shame on me. I should have known better and my wife told me after the first time to buy the device. but me being hard headed the second time they really got me because by that time I had become the owner of my own guild. They had full access to everything, the really sad part was that I logged on through my sons account and watched as they went from player to player and took everything. That is a real bad feeling watching this happen and not be able to do anything. I thorough that If I could have contacted the GM that they might have been able to stop the robbery in progress, but it didn’t happen that way I went back latter that day to find out that they really cleaned my clock.
“I want an authenticator! I am in the EU region.”
Here’s to a good day’s work!
I want an authenticator! I am in the US region.
I want an authenticator! I am in the US region.”
I don’t want an authenticator. I got mine as my xmas gift to myself this past year. But I’ve enjoyed having one. I was lucky and they were in stoch when i ordered mine. Cost me $7 total. Prolly cuz i live in CA. But I had a friend who refused to get one and he loved playing WoW. Well he changed his tune after he got hacked and had to spend several days getting blizz on the phon e to straighten it out. He found out that the hacker had even moved a too nor 2 to other realms. So needless to say, I think having 1 or the other is a must for any true loving player of WoW.
I want an authenticator! I am in the US region.
“Basically, the authenticator makes it impossible to log into your account unless you have access to a particular physical item”
Not impossible. A man in the middle attack will (and has) still work. While a man in the middle attack is still rare, that can easily be attributed to the fact that other somewhat simpler attacks still work. Security is a back and forth battle, and trade off’s between security and convenience will always occur.
That said, you are doing a good thing here, and I thank you.
I already own an authenticator, lovely little device and never leaves my desk. My friends own one each and one of then has it attached to her monitor.
Just wanted to leave a side note that one authenticator can be tied to an unlimited amount of accounts. So you and your spouse can purchase one authenticator, link it to both accounts, and both get the pet.
i got hacked a while back so i got an authenticator right away. And yes its probarly the best protection for your WoW account. Still, make sure your antivirus is up to date and all that, changing pass now and then doesnt hurt either(once a week seem a bit much though).
I play on US realms while i live in EU XD; (canadian friends fault). got an authenticator from EU (offcurse) and there is no issues with it on a US account, If annyone was wondering.
“I want an authenticator! I am in the EU region!”
Yay! ^.^
I want an authenticator! I am in the US region.
Allons!
I am doing the drawing right now. (Late night last night.) I should be contacting the winners shortly. Thanks for entering, everyone!
Thank you sooo much Mania! :o)
I’ve e-mailed all the winners at this point, so check your inbox and get back to me if you won!
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I already own an authenticator, lovely little device and never leaves my desk. My friends own one each and one of then has it attached to her monitor.
Just wanted to leave a side note that one authenticator can be tied to an unlimited amount of accounts. So you and your spouse can purchase one authenticator, link it to both accounts, and both get the pet.