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SiteBlizzard Announces World of Warcraft Security Token
It seems that Blizzard is finally taking action to strengthen the security on World of Warcraft accounts. On 26 June 2008, Blizzard announced in a press release titled “BLIZZARD® AUTHENTICATOR OFFERS ENHANCED SECURITY FOR WORLD OF WARCRAFT® ACCOUNTS” that they were going to introduce an optional extra layer of security by using security tokens. These physical devices — which are typically small enough to be carried in a pocket or be attached to a keychain — display a six-digit number that will be required upon logging in to play the game. Each authenticator is linked to a specific account1, meaning that you can’t use your buddy’s token to log into your account.
To be honest, I’m surprised that I haven’t seen more information about this on the blogosphere. With the rash of account hackings that have occurred in recent months, Blizzard’s new security token seems like an absolute panacea. It will prevent people from accessing accounts without having that token physically in their hands2. So even if someone should somehow happen to stumble across the account name and password, he wouldn’t be able to access the account — ensuring that the owner won’t log in one day to find his toons naked in Stormwind or Orgrimmar without a single copper to his name. I’ve never had that happen to me and with the new authenticator I’ll be able to ensure that it won’t.
I have a token3 that I use when accessing my company’s intranet remotely. Ours are a little different; rather than pushing a button to get a number, it continuously updates every thirty seconds to a new number. However, it’s a wonderful device and, between having two people in the family working for the same Fortune 200 company, we’ve found out that the token is in fact unique to a single account. Blizzard’s new authenticator will make account hackings a thing of the past!
Unfortunately, it will be difficult for those individuals who are in the habit of sharing their account information with other, whether it be their guild members, friends, or family. Without that token in their hands or someone telling them the numbers on it at the moment that they log in, they won’t be able too access the account. Perhaps with this in fact in mind, Blizzard made the following statement:
Each account can have only one Blizzard Authenticator linked to it at a time, so you would need to carry the Authenticator with you to log in from different computers.
The new Blizzard Authenticator was available following the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational, held 28-29 June 2008. The security token is also being sold through the company’s store, specifically on the Blizzard Authenticator product page for a low price of 6.50 USD. I purchased mine this morning, because under seven dollars is extremely cheap for peace of mind. For a one-time payment of less than half the cost of a monthly subscription renewal, I’ll be able to make sure that only I will be able to access my account — and not some account-stealing bastard from the eighth circle of Hell.
Which makes me curious: who else has purchased one of the Blizzard authenticators? I’ll know within the next five days or so how it works and be able to follow up with my initial perception of the whole idea.
