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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsAuthenticator on sale at the Blizzard Store
by Amanda Dean 
Jun 30th 2008 at 7:00AM
I'm giddy again. Why? Because I just placed an order for new Blizzard Authenticator. I am not the least bit phased about the price. Given the time frame between when Blizzard announces that they will do something and when they actually come through, I'm surprised this has come so quickly after the announcement. Sooner is better than later. I know what it's like to lose control of my account to a keylogger.
Operating under the assumption that they will operate both of my accounts, I placed an order for two: one for me and one for my better half. I shall let you know when the doohickey arrives if this is, in fact, the case. I also believe that they make a great gift, so I bought one for my mom as well. Shipping for this product is free, but you do have to pay your state sales tax (
Next Day Standard shipping orders usually take 1-2 business days for items in stock; please anticipate approximately 24 hours of packaging time during normal business hours. Allow 8-10 business days for Ground shipping, and International shipping rates and times may vary.
This website states that the authenticator can only be shipped to the . I can't find anything about the authenticator on the WoW
There is nothing on the page which states if the device is in stock or not. The email said it will ship in the next 2-3 business days. I'm sure there will be a massive demand for authenticators in the next few weeks, so be sure to place your order soon.
I've been a wee bit miffed with Blizzard this weekend over the Diablo 3 splash screen suspense. This makes up for it. Good news about Wrath of the Lich King and the opportunity to better secure my account. Thanks Blizzard, I even took a sec to opt in for beta on future releases.
Filed under: Fan stuff, Blizzard, News items, Account Security
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
kuri Jul 1st 2008 2:22AM
A 2nd level of protection would just require a keylogger checking the 2nd level. The purpose of the BA is to ensure keyloggers can't just parse your keyboard entries to log into your account.
If you lost your BA, you just call up support. Yes, you'll need to watch it like you would your keys to your house. It should be extremely durable against everything but magnetic interference, but unless you hang out in high-powered magnet factories or microwave ovens, you should be ok.
Being a recent victim of a keylogging attack, I jumped right on this. You only get so many character/item/server x-fer restores after botters go nuts with your account. Not to mention the lost time you'll spend dealing with the account department, GMs, and the item restoration team.
$6.50 is a bargain for the headache, heartache, and frustration you'll avoid.
Wallace Jun 30th 2008 11:33AM
I was charged $0.60 sales tax and $2.30 for S&H, but I'm just glad I was able to get my order in on time, still a very reasonable price. The beta opt-in was very nice :D
Juliah Jun 30th 2008 11:37AM
I agree with the poster who said they should include them with Wrath of the Lich King.
I'm going to wait to see if people encounter any problems with them before I order one.
Belkar Jun 30th 2008 11:54AM
I love the idea of an authenticator, but I honestly believe that this is something that should be free, but with requiring an opt-in. And as such, Blizzard will not be getting still more of my money.
TotalBiscuit Jun 30th 2008 12:08PM
People seem to be mistaking impotent nerd-rage for something that Blizzard or indeed any business actually cares about. There is no commercial benefit what-so-ever to giving these things out for free, indeed, it's commercially stupid. None of you are going to quit over it. You can rage, whine and bitch all you please, but none of you will quit over it. So why should Blizzard care? Those who want it will get it, those who don't, won't. Blizzard makes a profit, the share-holders are kept happy, the company prospers and you, as always, remain nothing but a customer who won't vote with their wallet, rather than their keyboard.
TotalBiscuit Jun 30th 2008 12:07PM
People seem to be mistaking impotent nerd-rage for something that Blizzard or indeed any business actually cares about. There is no commercial benefit what-so-ever to giving these things out for free, indeed, it's commercially stupid. None of you are going to quit over it. You can rage, whine and bitch all you please, but none of you will quit over it. So why should Blizzard care? Those who want it will get it, those who don't, won't. Blizzard makes a profit, the share-holders are kept happy, the company prospers and you, as always, remain nothing but a customer who won't vote with their wallet, rather than their keyboard.
Baluki Jun 30th 2008 12:52PM
It's interesting that it's labelled with Blizzard graphics, not WoW graphics. It would be really nice if we could buy this thing once, and have it work for future Blizz games too, like Diablo 3 (though I don't know how big of a target it'll be for keyloggers) and their "next-gen MMO".
Abbadon Jun 30th 2008 12:54PM
WTF is up with the shipping?! Some are getting it free, but I (and others) seem to have been forced into the Ground option (with no other choice) for another $2.30 (plus tax).
Total was $9.53 for one...
I'm certainly not thrilled about the fluctuation of this shipping cost and whatnot, but despite this minor argument, I'm obviously still willing to pay ten bucks to keep all my fake monies.
Abbadon Jun 30th 2008 12:55PM
WTF is up with the shipping?! Some are getting it free, but I (and others) seem to have been forced into the Ground option (with no other choice) for another $2.30 (plus tax).
Total was $9.53 for one...
I'm certainly not thrilled about the fluctuation of this shipping cost and whatnot, but despite this minor argument, I'm obviously still willing to pay ten bucks to keep all my fake monies.
DrPleaser Jul 6th 2008 1:05PM
Looks like canadian users are shut out for now. Come on blizz, show canada some love!
Medros Jun 30th 2008 1:49PM
I am more curious how she opted in for beta when there is no link to that in Account Management.
Nasrin Jun 30th 2008 4:12PM
The Beta Opt-In is in the Blizzard Store account, not in your WoW account...
Medros Jun 30th 2008 5:44PM
Thanks Nasrin, when I was on the phone with Blizzard I asked them and got the full instructions.
Shefki Jun 30th 2008 1:55PM
To be honest I'd be very surrised if Blizzard is making any profits off these. Anyone that has ever worked with secure tokens like these knows that they generally cost around $5 buying them in a quantity of a million or more. Figure $1.50 for their overhead, packaging and the cost of branding them as Blizzard Authenticators as opposed to a generic token. $6.50 is very likely just about cost for getting these things in our hands.
beaubot Jun 30th 2008 3:56PM
Are you kidding me!? For an item like this you're looking at a huge margin. Bliz isn't going to some rinky dink distributor for these. In manufacturing terms we're talking the equivalent of making crackerjack toys. Even if they've contracted someone to make one for half of the existing accounts were still talking a multi-million dollar contract. And you know that any manufacturer isn't going in with Bliz for anything under 8-10 million units.
Hey and who knows, maybe the asian factory that is making these will give a job to one of the gold farmers that made them necessary. Make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside doesn't it?
Shefki Jun 30th 2008 8:41PM
8-10 million units? You really think Blizzard is going to get an 80-100% utilization rate for active accounts? They have somewhere around 10-11 million accounts. Nevermind that most of those accounts are in China where they aren't offering this and the device can be attached to multiple accounts so even if every account got one they wouldn't necessarily have one device per account.
These devices are not a toy. They are a complicated cryptographic device. There are only a handful of companies with the capabilities to produce the device for them.
Roughly how these devices work is they have a very low power clock. They have a ROM with a key. The time from the clock and the key produce a number that is displayed on the LCD when the use presses the button. Typically this number only changes every 30 seconds. The authentication system will then accept codes within a time frame of 2 minutes. So the two prior codes and the two codes after the current time.
Thus, the device must have a clock that does not drift more than two minutes over the lifetime of the device. Additionally since the device contains the key that is the only truely secret part of the algorithm. That key must be fairly protected.
Typically these devices are built to destroy the key if tampered with. Not to mention they are built so they are difficult to damage or mess up.
Now it's possible that Blizzard has built something significantly less capable than all of this and is doing it on the cheap but I seriously doubt it. Removing these features diminishes the point of the device. It's meant to be a security device. If it's easily compromised by expanding the number of tokens accepted, making tokens valid for longer periods of time, or making the devices easier to tamper with then sooner or later it will be compromised.
Blizzard is not a large customer for these devices really in the big scheme of things. They're more and more common in IT and banks are starting to roll them out as an option. Heck EU countries are outright requiring two factor authentication for their banks.
Given that I've seen some of the manufacturers doing keys for groups as small as the MLS service in a metro area (think few thousand devices). Your idea that they'd demand 8-10 million is pretty absurd.
Ikari Jun 30th 2008 3:13PM
As it stands right now I'm not buying the keyfob in the near future. Yes it's only $6.50, ($7 after tax), but there is currently a very limited scope of use for the device. I'm sure D3 and SC2 will have support for it, but I'd like to be able to use it elsewhere. VPN/SSH authentication for remote connections to a company or personal network, online banking/financial work, etc.
Of course, I will most likely get one in the long term. I am a bit of a security nut and I understand that this is a very nice level of physical security. Though initially I want to see how this will all play out. After doing a bit of reading on how this form of authentication works, and chatting with a friend versed in the subject, will Blizz be able to keep the authentication servers stable enough for the amount of users logging in? My friend was very doom & gloom about the subject and felt they won't be able to.
Medros Jun 30th 2008 3:17PM
Here is my thoughts on the Authenticator and availability. http://www.allthingsazeroth.com/Medros/archive/2008/06/incoming-security-for-the-few.php
Ikari Jun 30th 2008 3:28PM
For Canadians the fix is simple enough. I think.
Get some American friends to order and mail it to you! :D
Medros Jun 30th 2008 5:38PM
Ikari, the issue is one of why Blizzard won't, which answers how likely this will be to work with friends. If there are legal restrictions on shipping it to Canada, then I would rather not risk my friends to get it. I do, however, want a straight answer, not clouded by ignorance, from Blizzard.