Requiring authenticators for guild bank access
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 3rd 2009 at 7:00PM
There are a few caveats here that m0rtis doesn't mention, but we will: first of all, there's no way to guarantee whether someone is using an authenticator or not, so while you can make guildies promise, there's no real way to check up on them. Second, not all guild banks get emptied out due to hackers -- many guild banks get ninja'd by someone within the guild, and there's no authenticator that can protect against that. So having authenticators on bank members (or at least having them promise they've got them) isn't 100% protection. But it is something.
Not to mention that if you're in a guild where there is something worth protecting in the bank, you should probably have as much protection on your account as you can anyway. Guilds are going to have more and more riding on them as we move into the next expansion, so now might be an excellent time to make sure the ranks are covered as much as they can be.
Filed under: Items, Tips, Guilds, Economy, Account Security
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Rob Sep 3rd 2009 7:06PM
Lame. I have a Mac and I'm not a moron. My account is safe.
Neodarkmatter Sep 3rd 2009 7:11PM
Just keep telling yourself that. Doesn't matter how safe a Mac is, people on the internet can still get your password no matter how complicated it is. If you put a packet sniffer on your mac and take a look when you log in, your password is there in plain text. Sorry I don't have proof to show you but just don't be over confident just because you have a mac.
RogueJedi86 Sep 3rd 2009 7:21PM
Dare I say that Mac users' smugness about not getting viruses might make them more vulnerable to keylogging and phishing e-mails than PC users. They think "Hey I can't get a virus, I'm a Mac!" and then click any and all WoW-related links in their e-mails. It certainly sounds reasonable.
Rob Sep 3rd 2009 7:27PM
Mac haters need to get a life.
cultldr Sep 3rd 2009 7:31PM
People that have macs and don't think they can get keylogged need to wake up. It's happened to two people I know that have macs and one was my last GL.
ChaosPrime Sep 3rd 2009 7:42PM
I love Macs but it's thinking like that, that will get your account poached.
Rob Sep 3rd 2009 7:33PM
@cultldr
Well, you're writing it on the internet so it must be true.
RogueJedi86 Sep 3rd 2009 7:36PM
@Rob
"Well, you're writing it on the internet so it must be true."
That sarcastic remark also applies to you. You're praising the Mac on the internet, so it must be true.
raingod Sep 3rd 2009 7:42PM
Yup, Macs are so safe. apple saw fit to put in an anti virus program with Snow Leopard.
Noscy Sep 3rd 2009 7:47PM
The single most greatest threat to computer and account safety is the fleshbag using it.
alamos Sep 3rd 2009 7:54PM
Frostheim from the WHU said it best:
"If you have a Mac, the process is a bit harder. You first have to go to Best Buy, purchase a PC, install WoW, and watch your quality of life improve."
Rob Sep 3rd 2009 7:55PM
"That sarcastic remark also applies to you. You're praising the Mac on the internet, so it must be true"
Zing! Wait... what? o_0
It's not like I was even singing the praises of the Mac really. I just said my account was secure because it's very hard to exploit a Mac. It's actually pretty hard to exploit a Windows PC as well when you keep it up to date.
The biggest risk to your account is just being a moron and installing software (willingly) when you don't know what it is or what it does... or just flat out giving your password to someone that shouldn't have it. Free mount anyone?
notworksafe Sep 3rd 2009 7:58PM
If you've got an iPhone, just get the authenticator on that. It's free!
Janaa Sep 3rd 2009 8:30PM
Hmm.. you raise an interesting point Rob, however, last I checked - and this is the result of exhaustive research on a painstaking fact-finding expedition - but, LOL YOU USE A MAC.
Your opinion on anything remotely technical just became null and void.
shard Sep 3rd 2009 8:30PM
A mac is not that hard to exploit at all. On the other hand, there are just not that many people that actually know how. Less likely to be hacked, not harder to be hacked.
Birdfall Sep 3rd 2009 9:34PM
"Less likely to be hacked, not harder to be hacked."
That is how my husband explained it to me. Using a Mac is like using an unpopular web browser. You'll get fewer viruses off of them simply because hackers don't consider it worth the time to adapt their viruses for the number of people they'd get.
My husband's annoyance with Mac commercials has nothing to do with the computers themselves and everything to do with the fallacy that "Macs don't get viruses because their virus protection is better." Macs actually have worse virus protection than PCs for the same reason they don't get viruses -- they haven't needed to keep up with it because they're not the ones getting bombarded.
It's a nice situation to have, but it doesn't make them more inherently immune to virus than anyone else. If Macs get accepted by more users and the numbers start to be worth the hackers' time, Macs will see just as many problems as PCs currently do.
As to PC vs Mac -- it's definitely a personal choice. Our GL uses Mac, another friend works at one of their stores, and they have just as many reasons for doing that as we have for using PC. :/ Use what you enjoy and don't worry about it.
Guido666 Sep 3rd 2009 10:04PM
Honestly, WoW may be the single greatest threat to Mac's security. Previously, nobody that wrote malware gave a crap about Mac, because of the small and unprofitable population of Mac users. Now however, you have a million Mac users with a poorly defended system, and an attitude ripe for exploitation, that they can make just as much money off of by stealing WoW accounts.
Viper007Bond Sep 3rd 2009 10:24PM
Security through obscurity is not security.
artifex Sep 3rd 2009 11:31PM
"If you put a packet sniffer on your mac and take a look when you log in, your password is there in plain text."
I want proof of this. Blizzard should be transmitting authentication securely, not sending passwords in plain text. That's just bad.
Yakuko Sep 3rd 2009 11:33PM
Seriously? What's with all the Mac hate? I love my Mac since I recently switched, and I was a longtime PC fan. However, I still use my authenticator and still use other precautions to not only keep my WoW account safe, but everything else I do on the web. Mac's are not immune to threats. Less likely to have to deal with them? Definitely. But just because the chances are less, they still exist.