Battle.net Mobile Authenticator now available for Windows 7 Phones
by Michael Sacco 
Jul 7th 2011 at 8:00PM
At this point, there's pretty much no reason not to have an authenticator -- they're 6 bucks and free to ship for a physical device and no cost at all for a software version available for every major mobile platform. Just get it!
Battle.net Mobile Authenticator for Windows® Phone 7 Devices
The Battle.net Mobile Authenticator, an application for mobile phones that provides an extra layer of account security, is now available as a free download for Windows® Phone 7 devices on the Windows Phone Marketplace. The Battle.net Mobile Authenticator provides a one-time password that you use in addition to your regular account name and password when you log in to a Battle.net account to play World of Warcraft or StarCraft II.
Versions for other mobile devices are also available for download here, or you can purchase a physical Battle.net Authenticator from the online Blizzard Store. Visit the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator FAQ for more information, or head to the setup page to get started after you've downloaded the application.
For additional account security advice, check out our Account Security page.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Black08Mustang Jul 7th 2011 8:18PM
'bout time.
Michael Sacco Jul 7th 2011 8:20PM
Yeah, and while you're at it, don't bother getting locks on your doors either! If you get robbed it's due to your own ignorance, not some silly mechanism that keeps intruders from getting into your home!
Michael Sacco Jul 7th 2011 8:22PM
Also only idiots with too much money to spend bother getting seatbelts installed in their car. They're just a cash grab by the automotive industry. If you get into an accident and die it's your own fault for not paying attention to what every driver in the country is doing and thinking.
Michael Sacco Jul 7th 2011 8:24PM
lol, health insurance? Yeah right, like I'm gonna buy into that pyramid scheme. If you get sick it just means that you weren't smart enough to keep all the molecules in your body from working as intended. Some silly insurance plan isn't going to help you.
mem0ryburn Jul 7th 2011 8:31PM
lol you just got Sacc'd
mem0ryburn Jul 7th 2011 8:31PM
you just got Sacc'd
Klepsacovic Jul 7th 2011 8:32PM
"Paid service" and "free app" don't really belong in the same thought.
Michael Sacco Jul 7th 2011 8:37PM
No, Handera's totally right. The zero dollars it costs to download any of the mobile authenticators and the six dollars that Blizzard gains that doesn't even cover the cost of manufacture and R&D (coupled with the money they lose by shipping it to you for free) for a physical device makes this a clear cash grab.
Ian Jul 7th 2011 8:38PM
Free of charge for mobile devices despite the fact that they continue to update them and improve their functionality and range of supported devices.
You sir/madam are an idiot who is complaining about an additional service, which even with the paid-for version was a big admission by blizzard that there was a gaping hole in the security that could not be addressed by traditional means.
Even if much of the time that hole is the player then it was a brave decision by blizzard to stick their hands up and say they got it wrong.
At least they are trying to addess it.
Spark Jul 7th 2011 8:41PM
Gotta love a conspiracy theorist banging on the "follow the money" drum while exposing their ignorance.
Tokens are probably costing Blizzard around $9 each unit - the best price I've been able to find so far is $9.20 per unit in lots of 1000 - 10000 units [1]. And that's without customized graphics. But that's just the token. Support contracts and per-user licensing for a Vasco back-end authentication server could be around $32 per user (which doesn't account for the expense of personnel supporting that infrastructure). Which is a steal compared to some competing products. RSA SecurID tokens go for $50ea not including authentication infrastructure, licensing, and support contracts.
Granted - I'm not a Blizzard insider. I don't know exactly how much their pricing is. But it's a reasonable guess that they going to be getting similar pricing as anyone else looking to buy the same product. Still, they could have hashed out a real sweetheart deal that drops their pricing even further. But that would be a hell of a deal to break even with the retail price of the Authenticators, much less hit a profit which could be reasonably labeled as a "cash grab".
One other comment... there are no guarantees in the realm of information security. There is nothing you can do to "mean you won't get hacked". But one can identify risks and mitigate those risks to the point that you are a difficult target and less likely to be compromised. I have never had my desktop system nor my WoW account compromised. But I bought a hardware Authenticator. $6 is a bargain for excellent technology that you've ignorantly dismissed as a "silly little toy." (Although if one were to now start talking about what Blizzard has done to potentially undermine that technology recently, it'd be a different conversation).
1. http://www.pcsuperstore.com/products/11171691-VASCO-54146021910079.html
Samuel Jul 7th 2011 8:50PM
@Handera: You obviously don't know what you're talking about. Allow me to enlighten you.
Activision has no say in what goes on at Blizzard. None. Blizzard is essentially the same as it was before the merger. Do you know why? No, probably not, so let me tell you. Activision was owned by the French company Vivendi before the merger, and so was Blizzard. They were both answering to the same higher power before the merger, and it's no different now.
The authenticator is sold at a cost. It is a modified VASCO DIGIPASS GO 6 device. VASCO manufactures the GO 6 for Fortune 500 companies and banks, and Blizzard purchases them from VASCO for a higher price than what we pay Blizzard. The shipping cost of the authenticator is free if you live within the United States as well. There is also a phone app that is available for 99 cents, and even for free for some phones. Do you think that 99/0 cents covers how much it costed Blizzard to develop those apps in-house? I highly doubt it does, and I know it doesn't in the case of the latter. Blizzard has also been giving away the physical authenticator for FREE to some people who were recently victims of an account compromise.
Do you still think that it's a money grab?
rhorle Jul 7th 2011 8:50PM
Three times to respond to one idiot, stop trolling.
And if it is only ignorance allowing yourself to be hacked, then isn't not getting an authenticator just as ignorant? As an authenticator stops 99.9% of all hacking attempts. The only times an authenticator won't help you is with man in the middle attacks (which are few) and social-hacking. Social hacking requires someone physically using your token.
Authenticators are free, and therefore can not be a money grab. There is a dial-in (free), Mobile (Free), and fob (S&H). The only authenticator to require money is essentially covering the Shipping and handling for it. Blizzard isn't making money off of it because it costs them less to at cost then it does to spend the man hours retrieving accounts.
Also the authenticator was announced around the same time the merger between Activsion and Vivendi was finalized. Blizzard chose to use them, not activison.
Why are you so opposed to account security? For little more then 15 days of wow you can know that you are secure as you can be. It even comes with a free pet. Or you can get a pet with out paying by using your smart phone or telephone.
Anomis Jul 7th 2011 9:29PM
There Free if you have an iOS Device, Android, or Windows 7..
Or you can buy one for 9 which isn't exactly a fortune seen as its making your WoW account which you spend a lot more on than 9 pounds...
rhorle Jul 7th 2011 8:57PM
"the six dollars that Blizzard gains that doesn't even cover the cost of manufacture and R&D (coupled with the money they lose by shipping it to you for free) for a physical device makes this a clear cash grab."
Blizzard paid zero R&D cause they don't manufacture the physical authenticator. It is made by VASCO and is called the Digipass go-6. You can be sure that VASCO is getting their cost of Research, development, and manufacture from all customers. Several other game companies, banks, and other companies use the digipass go-6 model.
http://www.vasco.com/Images/DP%20GO6%20-%20DS201007-v1.pdf
http://www.vasco.com/products/digipass/digipass_go_range/digipass_go6.aspx
Name Anonymous Jul 8th 2011 10:33AM
You're half right. Blizzard didn't do any R&D for the hardware end. However, they did need to spend the time researching and writing the software part that interacts with their login servers. And at least something towards the mobile phone apps.
Of do you think Blizzard bought the physical authenticators and everything else magically got done for free?
DonNochay Jul 7th 2011 9:00PM
@Michael Sacco
Ugh, you were doing fine until you brought up health insurance, which in this U.S., IS an evil pyramid scheme moneygrab. Hate to break it to you.
Zan Jul 7th 2011 9:00PM
Yay! I love my Windows Phone 7! (At least I will once the mango update hits :)
DonNochay Jul 7th 2011 9:00PM
The*, but whatever.
visuallynoisy Jul 7th 2011 9:03PM
I don't understand... I've had this for my Windows 7 Phone for maybe half a year now?
Spark Jul 8th 2011 12:00AM
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visuallynoisy Jul 7th 2011 9:03PM
I don't understand... I've had this for my Windows 7 Phone for maybe half a year now?
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Maybe what you're running is the 3rd party project based on the information gleaned from the Android version.