Why are so many people getting hacked recently?

[sicness]

Agreed, if someone has the skills, access and hardware to setup, and monitor a MITM hack they wouldn't be hacking wow accounts to steal your gold and get $USD3 per 1000. They would be MITM you bank account or company details and steal some real cash.

Exactly, credit card info > wow account credentials.

[Rykin]

To the people saying clicking fake links and getting keyloggers/trogans/virus/malware are the reason so many people are being hacked recently I ask you this, how does an inactive account where the owner hasn't been on a computer much less logged into their account in months get hacked? Because that's happening a lot lately. There's something more going on here than just player fault.

[sicness]

To the people saying clicking fake links and getting keyloggers/trogans/virus/malware are the reason so many people are being hacked recently I ask you this, how does an inactive account where the owner hasn't been on a computer much less logged into their account in months get hacked? Because that's happening a lot lately. There's something more going on here than just player fault.

I don't think so tbh, I think it's players in denial that they're not naive enough to 'fall' for getting hacked.

[Samurai]

To the people saying clicking fake links and getting keyloggers/trogans/virus/malware are the reason so many people are being hacked recently I ask you this, how does an inactive account where the owner hasn't been on a computer much less logged into their account in months get hacked? Because that's happening a lot lately. There's something more going on here than just player fault.

All the people that have stopped playing who lose their accounts don't have authenticators, and are probably just getting done by a bot brute forcing their account.

And they are probably using the same email address for everything, including all the fan sites, and have "allow users to contact me via email" ticked, so their account names are in the public domain, and then have stupidly easy password.

[aramco007]

the main 2 reason is:
sharing your account with friends or gf
power lvling
thats my opinion

[sa7an]

Never owned a Authenticator and never will, also never been hacked. Firefox + No Script + Ad-Block = Win but even without Firefox plus those addons there is no reason to get hacked, like the many posts in here that have stated it if youve been hacked you know why u have GG

only got hacked after i stopped playing, account was inactive for 4 months, and had moved on from wow to some other games, now tell me oh mighty magical can see why i got hacked man, how did they get on my account?

different email and password on said other games
my battle.net account and password arnt used anywhere else
if i get an email from blizzard i type worldofwarcraft.com into my browsers address bar i dont click the link
bi weekly scans and updates to my antivirus software

did they get my info and sit on it for 4+ months? lol

[Yohassakura]

70% of people use their e-mail and or favoured social networking site passwords for their Warcraft passwords. Go figure?

Java has had some pretty nasty bugs/loop hole attacks recently, i'd say that the majority of these were from exploiting it.

[Samurai]

only got hacked after i stopped playing, account was inactive for 4 months, and had moved on from wow to some other games, now tell me oh mighty magical can see why i got hacked man, how did they get on my account?

different email and password on said other games
my battle.net account and password arnt used anywhere else
if i get an email from blizzard i type worldofwarcraft.com into my browsers address bar i dont click the link
bi weekly scans and updates to my antivirus software

did they get my info and sit on it for 4+ months? lol

Well it definitely wasn't a Man in the Middle (MITM) attack if you haven't logged in for 4 months.

But i am guessing you didn't have an authenticator on your account? You don't even need to use it, just download the app for a phone, add it, then delete the app. No chance anyone is getting in then if you don't ever log into your account.

[Fabrio]

You guys do realise people mass-keylog people everywhere around the world, just say they get information for 17,000 accounts. They will sell all that account information for $1-5 an account to companies like some gold companies. They people behind the keyloggers just get your information they don't actually do anything else besides sell that information. Those people buy the accounts in hope to get as much out of the accounts as they can.

So you could get keylogged 6 months earlier and even if you've not been around and haven't changed your password (even if you change it on the same PC, they'll know) Your account can randomly be picked to be checked for gold and other valuable items.

This happens with credit card numbers as well...people get their numbers stolen in the thousands, and the people stealing them sell them to buyers in bulk, the buyers then check all the cards. Most will be maxed out, but some will have free money in them.

This is what they mean when you hear people saying how WoW accounts are more expensive than Credit Cards. Because stolen credit cards numbers sell for less than stolen WoW account information

[Fojos]

And if your anti-virus program is making your computer run slower you probably need more ram...

You clearly have no clue. If you have more than one, they often interfere with the others, which actually impacts their ability to detect viruses.

[LeperHerring]

There is LESS chance of being a victim of a MITM hack then getting hit by a bus, the chance is so low that there is probably only 1 or 2 people who have ever read MMOChampion have had this happen to them.

Yeah, no kidding considering that mounting a successful MITM attack would require the attacker to break the key agreement protocol, in this case SRP-6. Believe me if someone managed to do that you'd hear about it.

[dr2022]

more nerd porn sites

[Stumbelline]

What does "tin foil hat" mean? :/

Also my bf got hacked twice, in the last few months, with the auth, both times where when he was away from home for a few weeks/hadnt logged in.
2 others in guild both got hacked while they where on vacation, one of them had an auth.
It's like they're able to tell when youre not around o.O

[Hub]

Long time troll/fan, first time poster here. Herro!

I'm not the sort to list 'internet credentials', but I'll simply say I've not had a virus on any of my machines since 1999. I've played since Closed Beta, and have been around since - and still haven't been hacked.

While yes, there is certainly a rise of people falling for scams due to Cataclysm eagerness, and of course the same age-old 'lol people are dumb' and 'stop downloading porn' arguments, this new wave of hacks is something different. We've been seeing a lot of hacks in our guild (and our social guild circles, as well) of people being hacked that have not logged in in months. It's almost an immediate concern when someone logs on we haven't seen in a very long time. There are people who have experienced very persistent hacks, even when logging in from an entirely different machine. People I consider highly knowledgeable, safe and secure have been hit - and it's made me feel much less confident in my rig as a result.

The same reasons people have been hacked all this time still are certainly still in play; but I am very inclined to agree that there is a new factor involved here. It's happened to folks who have authenticators, and to those who aren't playing WoW anymore at all. As I've said, I have been quite secure and confident with my system and setup, and have always played it safe and smart on the internet. It's served me well so far; but with these recent and very bizzare hacks, I suggest people hop off their high horses, stop repeating the same dribble and just consider that something new is occurring.

[Ari]

i still don't understand why people don't buy an authenticator, dirt cheap compared to how much we pay in sub fees, and i would rather pay the money for it and have peace of mind about my account. the reason me and my friend got them is because we both got hacked, mine was odd, they took 2000g from my hunter and leaving enough for the repair bill, and my friend got the whole lot done to him, and he said he never wanted to have to go through that whole process again of getting his account back.
As to why more people are getting hacked, it could be because they are now advertising cata beta and sending fake links to people and everyone wants to get into beta.

[Deleted]

There is a new round of hacks going around that
1) Bypass the use of adblock & firefox
2) Are not picked up reliably by most antivirus software
3) Are delivered in a very legitimate looking manner

This means that the precautions (i.e.: commonsense) that have worked for years are no longer enough to prevent hacking.

Does it bypass common sense? :O

[Rammellaar]

Those who claim that 99% of the people are lying whos account were stolen or didn't use an authenticator.. I can't wait till you guys get your account stolen tbh.. I change my pass every week, I do own an authenticator. I have a different email, update my system everyday (morning FTW), having a virus-scan and im not an "idiot" who clicks on random links.. The only site I go on besides of WoW-europe.com (which I double checked and then added as my favorites) and MMO-champion.com. Im playing online games for over 8 years and never even got CLOSE to getting my account stolen, it happend for me about a month ago.

Fixed@Typo

[Shinshiva]

there's only one reason why people get hacked: stupidity.

edit: those that have been hacked: STOP TALKING ABOUT IT on such a public forum. Jesus Christ this is exactly why you get hacked, you're idiots.

[Valintine]

People get "hacked" because of the misconception it is hacking when in fact the problem lies with the user.

[Fojos]

Those who claim that 99% of the people are lying whos account were stolen or didn't use an authenticator.. I can't wait till you guys get your account stolen tbh.. I change my pass every week, I do own an authenticator.
Fixed@Typo

I bet the authenticator is on your phone.