World of Warcraft to sell token device for added security

By Elinor Mills on 02 July 2008

Tags: blizzard | games | mmorpg | online | pc | world of warcraft | account | token | wow | player

Protect your phat loot

The makers of World of Warcraft are offering players of the online role-playing game an optional layer of security in the form of an electronic token device called Blizzard Authenticator designed to prevent unauthorised access to an account.

The lightweight device, which fits on a keyring, provides a unique, one-time six-digit numeric code that the account holder includes when logging in. It is used in addition to a password and account name.

It was offered to attendees at the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide invitational in Paris over the weekend and will be available for US$6.50 through Blizzard's online store soon, according to the company.

"It's important to us that World of Warcraft offers a safe and enjoyable game environment," Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, said in a news release distributed last week. "One aspect of that is helping players avoid account compromise, so we're pleased to make this additional layer of security available to them."

World of Warcraft users have had their share of security issues. Last year, hackers were luring players to websites and surreptitiously downloading keylogging software onto their Windows computers through vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The software allowed the hackers to hijack the victims' WoW accounts and sell off valuable in-game assets.

WoW players also have been targeted by a password-stealing Trojan sent via email and peer-to-peer file-sharing sites.

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hideous
02/07/2008 06:08 PM

yawn.. any english speaking people on this server ? after nearly 5 years of WoW - who cares. I can see this move is to remove any chance of powerlevers or gold miners. I still blame WoW for the declining PC game format.

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ashumz
09/07/2008 03:40 PM

and no one cares what u have to say QQ fails...

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