Look Activision-Blizzard, you can even pull in some extra ad revenue while raising security!
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If there is one thing worse than scammers in World of Warcraft, it is the hackers. I was just recently informed that one of the rogues I have played with for years lost his account in this fashion. Generally you have a good shot at some sort of recovery from this predicament, but not for him. The failure to recover rest entirely on his shoulders. His Secret Question was apparently too secret - he forgot the answer - and his serial number was lost during a move. With the decision made for him, he said he is quitting WoW unless he can find a cheap way to get back in. A new
Battlechest with Wrath in it would likely do the trick.
I have seen a lot of buddies get hacked, and sadly most of them were taken advantage of by people they thought were friends. Those personal hackers have it made, the trusting users actually gives them full access to their account and all its contents. Half the time looting wasn't their intent, but the temptation is just too great. The more traditional hacker has it a bit hardier.
Blizzard has been combating keylogging, viruses and other computer security based hacking attempts since their MMORPG went live. First, it was just reminders to not share your account data with
anyone, including people claiming to be employees of Blizzard. Then it was the addition of the "Remember Account Name" check box at the login screen. Blizzard's latest attempt, the hardware-based
Blizzard Authenticator, has been marred by their inability to keep it in stock. Not to mention the facts that it
isn't a flawless system, is optional and costs a few bucks more.
I can't remember which MMORPG it was, but they had another anti-hacking measure that should be very easy for Blizzard to implement. An on-screen keyboard for the password. Teamed with a saved account name, any keylogger would have a hard time cracking our passwords if we entered the entire (or the same section) of our passwords via an on-screen keyboard. Even if they did have half of the password, they would simply move on to the next sucker who didn't use the keyboard and
yoink all his gold, potions and enchanting goodies.
It is sad that we gamers have to go to these measures to stay safe, but the fact of the matter is with people willing to pay for gold, accounts and leveling services, the black market becomes inevitable. Unlike my buddy, keep your computer clean of spyware and viruses (
AVG Free), stay off the shady sites, keep your information to yourself, and for the love of the gods, remember to save your serial digitally and make the Secret Question easy enough that you can remember the answer!
Security be with you.
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