Authenticators - less effective than the pill at preventing... penetration?

OK, I openly admit to a blatant provocative title.  I started the night with a Tol Barad that was a terrible loss and a waste of time (as in, a waste of time because I could have been doing a REAL BG) but then Lush, Shab, Gutsy and I went and did WSG.  And it was a great game!  The DK capped the first one, then Lush sprinted down with the second one and got Quick Cap, and I said "Oh, man I want to get that!"  So the boys let me grab the flag and I sprinted down and then some alliance picked up the flag and my hopes were dashed.  But I continued to run.  I ran up the ramp, picked up the boots - what the hell, might as well, right? - and as I ran, someone returned the flag!  So I capped and got a Quick Cap too WOOO!  Shab and Lush also got Warsong Expedience.  I don't know how they got that when the game says it went for 8 min...

So Gutsy and I laughed how I did even less healing than a rogue in that battleground (I think I was... 8th? LOL) so we decided to queue again and surprisingly got a queue even though it was 10 minutes till shutdown.  Isle of conquest.  Great.

Amazingly we broke down a wall!  I've never thrown myself over the wall with a catapult before!  I didn't know you could do that :)  And Lushnek threw himself over as well with my catapult and got Back Door Job.  I dunno why but that achievement always cracks me up... :P

Anyway, server went down before we could do anything and I thought hell this is as good a time as any to get my authenticator.  So my account, my gold, my collection... are secure.  Or are they?

There seem to be a whole lot of stories of people still getting hacked with authenticators.  Look at this article from examiner.com titled "Diablo III - An authenticator still gets you hacked" by Mark Casino.  And then this forum on the D3 forums about Hack Refund.  And this quote from gameusd.com article:
Can WoW Authenticator Prevent being hacked? The immediate and short answer is no. The reason is that the WoW authenticator is a mathematical equation. Meanwhile, any mathematical code can be hacked. Just like your accounts password.
So, why did I put this authenticator on if it wasn't going to ensure my safety?  It sounds like it's about as reliable as the oral contraceptive pill which is 99% guaranteed to prevent pregnancy.  Scary, right?  So why bother?  I've had my account for years and I've never been hacked yet.  I wonder why?  Am I just lucky?  Or am I just boring?  Or am I doing something right?  Who knows, and I should just thank my lucky stars I never have had that issue.

I suppose nothing is failsafe.  I can only do as much as I can to prevent loss of my precious vanity items, gold and hard worked for gear.  Think about why the pill doesn't work.  If you're on antibiotics, the absorption of the hormones from the pill can get stuffed up so you still ovulate.  If you forget to take it, well, that's just asking for it not to work.  So, I should be looking at my account security like that.  I'll think of buying gold and other third party stuff as antibiotics, and leaving the authenticator lying around as forgetting to take the pill.  Nothing in the world is truly without risk, or safe, and everything we do for safety is to maximises our chances of prevention of bad things.

So what else can I do to secure my account?

Yes, yes don't let other people login or login from other computers because you don't know what nasty spyware or keylogging things they have on there.  Don't let your family members download a whole heap of crap onto your computer because you don't know what nasty bugs and viruses are going to get into your system.  Don't buy gold from gold sellers.  Change your password frequently - I mean, come on, seriously?  I know we're supposed to do that for everything but damn, do you think I have a fantastic memory that I can memorise all my different passwords especially if I'm changing them all the time?  And I'm not supposed to write them down either, so how is that going to help me when I've forgotten my new password for the umpteenth time!  And of course, if a hacker hacks your email account and gets a few personal details on you, then they can essentially remove your authenticator from your battle.net and reset your password and play havoc with your toon.

So.  Remind me again why I got an authenticator?

Because it has a pet.  Plain and simple. But I can't take pretty pics of him until the servers come back up.  Damn you Tuesday for making me put an authenticator and write a rambly post :P

Comments

  1. I got one as soon as they were available and I do care about my account's safety but ... yes, it was the the Core Hound pup that was the clincher for me, lol and he was worth it!

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  2. I besides my family have one, While Most of us never have been hacked my eldest daughter did get hacked a day pry to us receiving her authenticator, From that experience we now check all email headers regarding to any game. Why? She was hacked with one mere email, clicked a link and before she knewe it lost her account. These such emails are crafty in how they make it seem like a official WoW site and so an indiviual isn't aware. However email headers reveal a lot of truth and If your seeing in the headers a .yahoo or .hotmail sent from you know its not honest let alone real.

    Since having ours we not been hacked on any of our battle net games And I've had my account which is the oldest in this house since 2007. It's better to be save than sorry just like the pill if you don't want teh risk its best to protect yourself cuz no one will do it for you.

    Good post ^_^

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  3. @TotA - See, pets first! I knew you had your priorities right Ancient :)
    @Nightvyxen - Glad to hear you've never been hacked! Sometimes I really do wonder how some of us are just lucky or are we just careful? I know I try to be very careful with all my passwords and things...

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  4. I have an authenticator and have had oe since the pet came out...however I did get hacked even with it on and I am very careful. Thankfully my hubby was online when it happened and knew I was not (I was out at a family function that he managed to avoid). He rang me up to confirm then changed my passwords for me before any damage could be done...i think the other me was online for less than 5 minutes because of my hubby.

    I have a completely separate email for my actual blizz account so it is only used for that. My normal email gets about 8 spam blizz emails a day mixed in with Rift, aeon, and some other MMO I have never even heard of, and none of them are games I have played or even signed up for. Having a different email though means I know which are legit and which are not.

    So you are right - only 99.99% protection against being penetrated :p

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    Replies
    1. I should do that. But I have it with my normal email, but I'm bad at passwords, so I don't really want another password for another email account...

      But yeah, if I get "knocked up" with this authenticator I will be one cranky pants.

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  5. I totally got an authenticator for the pet. Also the reason I got HBC! (just kidding, BC doesn't come with a pet QQ!)

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    1. Pet pet pet! I must take a pic of my pet tonight!

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    1. LOL Pando! I am glad someone other than me thinks it's hilarious :D

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  7. I admit I wanted the pet but didn't get an authenticator for years. I heard it was a hassle if you had the mobile version and lost your phone. But you know what happened in the end.

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    Replies
    1. That is a very good point, when hubby got a phone replacement, we forgot about the authenticator, had to call the USA, on hold for 1.5 hours the first time and got told we needed the original disk key....took us about 3 hours to find all 3 copies (no idea whose copy was whose)...and then called back to be on hold for over 2 hours just so he could get the new authenticator on his mobile.

      That was a long night.

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    2. What happened to you Cym, was a big reason for me getting it. That and I got a new phone /kisses Samsung Galaxy S3

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  8. Nothing on the face of the planet is guaranteed 100% to work. But, the way I think about it is, if your a hacker, are you going to A, hack the person with an Authenticator which is much harder, or B, hack the person with no protection other than a simple password? I know which one I would pick.
    - Aza

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    Replies
    1. Oh I thought of something that is guaranteed 100% to work! If you eat lots of crap, you will make poo. /nod

      So. Moral of the story is, use protection! Coz you don't wanna be knocked up! /grin

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