Important Security Update

[Godspeed]

I'm wondering if those hackers got any Titan information, that would be the only good thing out of this hack

[Navitas]

So me having an authenticator protects me how when the crackers have direct access to Blizzard's database? OH wait is doesn't! I pity people like you who lull themselves into the delusion that a secure connection to a vulnerable server will make your information secure.

You think there is a list of authenticator codes attached to each account?!? Would it not be a randomly generated number based on a code made by Blizz that uses information from your account to generate. Pity indeed.

[Pickynerd]

I cancelled many moons ago, I hope they didn't keep my numbers around for ha-ha's.

[Deleted]

You think there is a list of authenticator codes attached to each account?!? Would it not be a randomly generated number based on a code made by Blizz that uses information from your account to generate. Pity indeed.

Keep in mind, that login information to get access to your ingame account is not the only valuable information I could find, if I had direct access to blizzards databases. Despite the obvious payment data, even contact data, such es name tied to email address and real address, maybe even phone number sell for a good amount of money. Stealing those information might not harm your character or your bank account, but it harms your privacy.

[Remilia]

Sony with their 1 or 2 months of silence says "hi" :P

That was PSN Offline. Response time was about 4-7 days or whatever.

[Karizee]

Now we know why 16 mil users accessed their battle.net accounts this last month XD

[Nerraw]

I love how people bash Sony or any other company when they are hacked but as soon as Blizzard gets hacked it's "Yeah, it's bound to happen. It's alright."


4-7 days is 6 times faster than 5 days?

I was under the impression it took them about a month to actually come clean?

[Pickynerd]

Now we know why 16 mil users accessed their battle.net accounts this last month XD

Rofl... /sigh... Probably true...

[Deleted]

Ugh, what an inconvenience. Thanks blizzard for letting us know. <3

That was sarcasm, right? Right?

Your security sucked (somewhere, somehow) and undoubtedly a very large number of email addresses was stolen. But you told us, so thank you Blizz!!

And yes, that thank you is sarcasm.

[Remilia]

I was under the impression it took them about a month to actually come clean?

Here you go.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/22680..._timeline.html
So, 4 days.

If there's a hack, why is battle.net still up?

[schippie]

Here you go.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/22680..._timeline.html
So, 4 days.

If there's a hack, why is battle.net still up?

Since unlike sony this leak has already been closed. Whereas sony took over a monthy to fix there stuff.
And it took sony not 4 days >.> it took them 7 days to openly admit something happend.
Besides that point sony new they were in deep trouble since nothing was properly encrypted so all the sensitive data was up for grabs without any sort of protection at all. Blizzard in this case has protected it probably with a hash encryption using the SRP protocol. And no names, credit card information etc where lost as it looks now.

[Remilia]

Since unlike sony this leak has already been closed. Whereas sony took over a monthy to fix there stuff.
And it took sony not 4 days >.> it took them 7 days to openly admit something happend.
Besides that point sony new they were in deep trouble since nothing was properly encrypted so all the sensitive data was up for grabs without any sort of protection at all. Blizzard in this case has protected it probably with a hash encryption using the SRP protocol. And no names, credit card information etc where lost as it looks now.

Far as I know, Sony did state that their password was hashed.

Also, first thing when they realized that they were hacked from day 1, whether or not they actually had something compromised, they should have taken the server offline. This is the most basic thing you should do in all cases. Afterwards its scrubbing.

[Tharkkun]

haha last summer I was hacked, I was playing on a brand new computer, win 7 64bit. Haven't even had time to surf porn and get trojans and malware.

I suspected there was a compromise at Blizzards end, because no matter how much the blizzard Fan-BEEPS (can't even use that word) defend blizzard, they are not invincible.

About the same time last summer watched as other people also get hacked at the same time as me.... ever noticed the hacks come in waves? like all the sudden you see a few thousand people get hacked in a week, then its quiet for a month, then it happens again, hmmmmm....... almost like some one is getting a HUGE LONG list of screen names and passwords from a special source of screen names and passwords??????

yeah sure put my tin foil hat back on right, you DELUSIONAL blizzard FAN-BEEPS!

Out of the box with SP1 Windows 7 has close to 100 security updates (windows updates). You plug it in with no firewall by default without updating immediately and you'll be hacked.

Same goes for XP. There's over 250 security fixes since SP3. You will compromised in less than a minute if you plug into the internet without a firewall. There are compromised machines scanning networks non-stop.

---------- Post added 2012-08-10 at 09:11 AM ----------

I love how people bash Sony or any other company when they are hacked but as soon as Blizzard gets hacked it's "Yeah, it's bound to happen. It's alright."


4-7 days is 6 times faster than 5 days?

It took Sony 18 days to disclose the issue and they still hadn't patched the security breach. When the PSN network came back online, they were still vulnerable.

[Drilnos]

Blaming Blizzard for this is like blaming a bank for getting robbed. It looks to me like they are handling it well. Neither I nor any of my guildies have been hacked since the 4th, and I have not noticed any evidence of a hacking epidemic on my realm or in the forums. Granted this is anecdotal, but if there was a truly catastrophic breach and Blizzard's security team were a bunch of bumbling idiots, I think there would have been at least some noticeable effect within five days.

[mmochamp7280]

this isn't the first time this has happened
when they started offering authenticators
they had just hired 2 people who specialized
in dealing with internal fraud. all the evidence suggests that an employee was selling
information and blizz covered this up while generating 70% profit on every authenticator
they sold

this is common, happens to all businesses eventually and contrary to popular belief, nobody has to tell you

http://daeity.blogspot.com/2010/07/w...know_1916.html

the fact that they volunteered this info means it's a pretty huge breech

[Deleted]

looks like Blizzard had no Authenticator - they should buy one^^

[Seegtease]

Maybe some of us "morons" know how to properly secure our computers without it. If you get hacked, it's your own fault. An authenticator is like a drool cup for a majority of the wow population.

Yeah, Blizzard, and any other major companies who have been hacked are obviously full of incompetent fools, since they got hacked. They certainly don't have any training in network security. Blizzard should have had a drool cup.

But since you seem to be the pro when it comes to this, why don't you get a job there and fix their systems so they will never get hacked again? I'm sure they'd pay you well. Oh, you couldn't? That's a shame.

[Bahska]

That was sarcasm, right? Right?

Your security sucked (somewhere, somehow) and undoubtedly a very large number of email addresses was stolen. But you told us, so thank you Blizz!!

And yes, that thank you is sarcasm.

If you don't want that to happen don't use the internet. Cause at some point no matter what service you use there will be a security breach its just a matter of time.
If there is money to be made someone will figure it out.

So emails were stolen what does that do? they cant get into your account all they can do is spam you maybe you can try not clicking the key logger link?
It was obviously pretty good security if the hacker got into there system yet didn't actually get much (Im sure the hacker thought he had more than he actually did)

If you look at other recent company's for example Sony or the worse but not as well known Valve breach. You know it took Valve 4 weeks to tell people that there credit card info was "probably" stolen? lol

[Pyridoxine]

How long has this compromise been in place? How many accounts have been compromised because of this neglect of Blizzard Entertainment?

Back in August of last year my account was hacked while being inactive for 6 months. I immediately got my account unbanned and noticed there was no time on my account which would make it impossible for someone to log in. Blizzard INSISTED that my end was compromised and not theirs. Regardless of the fact that my Mac, that I play on, is clean of any viruses and I use WPA2 Enterprise wireless security at home. After sending them pictures of my account being logged in after it was banned and calling them multiple times the only thing I would get is the generic "It's your fault" response. Any who this entire ordeal took a month to fix, due to some problem with our Guild Bank being inaccessible to everyone in the guild.

[Bahska]

How long has this compromise been in place? How many accounts have been compromised because of this neglect of Blizzard Entertainment?

Back in August of last year my account was hacked while being inactive for 6 months. I immediately got my account unbanned and noticed there was no time on my account which would make it impossible for someone to log in. Blizzard INSISTED that my end was compromised and not theirs. Regardless of the fact that my Mac, that I play on, is clean of any viruses and I use WPA2 Enterprise wireless security at home. After sending them pictures of my account being logged in after it was banned and calling them multiple times the only thing I would get is the generic "It's your fault" response. Any who this entire ordeal took a month to fix, due to some problem with our Guild Bank being inaccessible to everyone in the guild.

Did you have a authenticator, key loggers can show up as a spybot and not a virus so virus scanners wont see it, wireless security is easily hackable by anyone with linux knowledge, do you use your computers internal firewall, what are the ports.........i can keep going if you want? :P there are many different ways to get into your account an yes sometimes they will add time to your account that has been offline for any amount of time, whats 13 dollars to someone that could potentially use your account to make hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
They dont care what your level is or how long you have been playing (or haven't) its all about the account.

Macs ar good against potential threats but there not invulnerable http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/04...ssword-needed/ Took apple 2? weeks to fix that PC's were patched over night.

Also some virus scanners just plain suck an dont catch everything so it could come down to what software you use.