WoW Account Security

For those that don't know, there is a rash of account hacking going on.

The Cud's account has been stolen and is being used by farmers, my sons account was stolen Sunday morning and was being farmed until we got ahold of Blizzard Monday morning.

I tried to log on this morning and was told I was entering incorrect information and checked my email and received a notice my password had been changed.

Fortunately I have an authenticator on my account so they could not access it and the email provides a link to go and change your password so I'm still good, thankfully.

I can't stress enough about getting an authenticator.

I don't surf the web alot, and in the past couple days I have only strayed from my normal websites (news, WoW specific sites, FP, a couple other guild/clan websites) over the past couple days by going to myspace to see a couple of friends webpages.

And no, my son doesn't use my computer, he has his own.

So aside from myspace or addons, not sure where I got phished/keylogged.

But again, if you have trhe ability, get an authenticator.

It only costs $7 plus shipping... well worth it to protect your gaming investments.

Edited December 30, 2009 by Melok

I got one for Daseian for our anniversary, and he returned the favor by getting me one for xmas. See, authenticators can be romantic and show someone how much you care about them! *cough*

 

But really for $7 how can you go wrong? A good number of Ex Pats have also gotten their accounts hacked within the past few weeks. Tis the season for stealing, I guess. And you get a Core Hound Pup non-combat pet! DO IT!

Well after all the years of scares, I finally got one. And right now with the rash of problems they have been having with accounts being hacked. Blizz is actually selling the Authenticator for $6.50 with no shipping costs. So if you are going to get one now would be the time. S

Edited December 30, 2009 by Shean

Does the authenticator work in countries other than the US? I know they don't ship it outside the US, but if it works then I'll find a way!

They do ship to countries outside of the US but you have to buy a specific Authenticator to do so.....

 

http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000823 (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America)

 

http://kr.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=3310000347 (Korean)

 

http://eu.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=221003617 (European)

 

Links for the Authenticators that will work in other countries. I think you might be able to get the one that is able to work/run on a cell phone outside of these areas too. S

Edited December 30, 2009 by Shean

I should have mentioned, if you have an iPhone or iTouch, you can also download an app and it does the same thing as the authenticator

 

I highly recomend everyone gets one of these on your account, even if you are inactive. Cud hasent even been active for months and his account is comprimised.

From a first hand account, getting the authenticator is the best $7 i've spend in my life. For $7 I get peace of mind knowing that my toons of 5+ years are safe and will never have their gold stolen or deleted.

Also if you spend $7 on an authenticator spend another $7 on the FP paypal account to keep up vent and the website xD

Also if you spend $7 on an authenticator spend another $7 on the FP paypal account to keep up vent and the website xD

 

lol slipped that right in! I was going to pick up 2 authenticators but when i saw the ipodtouch one, i only bought the one for my sister. im getting the mobile one for mah itouchybobdealything. I assume you dont have to be onlnine with the ipodTouchmyself for the authentictor to work?? I'm glad i dont have to carry around another giant keychain things.

 

not trying to hijack the thread but does anyone use the mobile armory app for iphone/ipod touch? its's so awesomeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! =D

 

I got mine! It took getting hacked and having all of my toon's gear vendored (Bliz was good enough to restore the stuff, but what a scare!) to get me to move on it. Then it took a couple of weeks to actually find one, because they were sold out at the time! So don't make my mistake - Be proactive!

I saw Darkcud today and threw him off a cliff.

 

Just wanted to say.

lol slipped that right in! I was going to pick up 2 authenticators but when i saw the ipodtouch one, i only bought the one for my sister. im getting the mobile one for mah itouchybobdealything. I assume you dont have to be onlnine with the ipodTouchmyself for the authentictor to work?? I'm glad i dont have to carry around another giant keychain things.

 

not trying to hijack the thread but does anyone use the mobile armory app for iphone/ipod touch? its's so awesomeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! =D

 

 

Just had to add that I HIGHLY recommend the IPhone/IPod Authenticator App since:

 

1. It's FREE!

2. It sends a new code every 30 SECONDS to your device instead of the one time code you get otherwise. This makes your account basically unhackable.

3. You still get the pet (and did i mention it's FREE )

 

One word of caution using this app (as I already went through this a couple of months ago ):

 

If you want to stop using this app for any reason, you have to go to battle.net and disable it first. DO NOT JUST DELETE THE APP FROM YOUR DEVICE! If you do, or if you device CRASHES (like my IPhone did), you will need to call Blizz Support to have them remove the authenticator from your account. You won't be able to log into WOW until this is complete. No biggie but I was on hold for an hour before I got transferred to someone who could resolve the issue.

 

Once again, highly recommend this to protect your account if you can get it. Feel free to message me in game with any questions. Thanks.

There is absolutely no reason not to have an authenticator. We've had a few people have their accounts hacked, multiple times even, and I really have no pity. One of them had access to the guild bank and we had to get a bunch of stuff restored... If you can afford the $15/month then you can afford the $7 for a hard token authenticator and if you have an iPhone/Touch it's even free. I the cell phone version is like $0.40 or something, but their device list isn't very comprehensive.

 

I have the $7 keyfob and the iPhone authenticator on my Touch but I'm currently using the cell phone version on my Blackberry since that's most convenient for me.

 

It's pretty much impossible to hack an account with a working authenticator on it. Get one.

2. It sends a new code every 30 SECONDS to your device instead of the one time code you get otherwise. This makes your account basically unhackable.

 

Slight correction, it doesn't actually send a code. Your device is generating the code on it's own so there is no data transfer when you are using the authenticator app. It only needs a data connection when you sync the iPhone/Touch/Cellphone versions. I've only had to do this once on my Blackberry version and I've been using it for months.

 

I have the $7 keyfob and the iPhone authenticator on my Touch but I'm currently using the cell phone version on my Blackberry since that's most convenient for me.

 

It's pretty much impossible to hack an account with a working authenticator on it. Get one.

 

 

Whoa!! Wait wait wait.... When did the Blackberry get an authenticator?? I missed this.... When did it come out and where cane I get one?!?!?!

You can find it in their mobile store and the app is $0.99 automatically billed to your phone account.

Edited January 21, 2010 by Lyssa

Awesome!!! Does it work well?? No issues?? How long have you been using it??

I've been using it for, I don't know, 5-6 months? It works fine.

I had trouble with my account getting hacked Tuesday. All is well now, ordered my authenticator that afternoon.