authenticator posts

MMO Family: 17 internet safety tactics for gaming families

by Lisa Poisso Oct 9th 2009 at 12:00PM

MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family ... From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family.

"Be careful, there's nasty stuff out there on the internet."

It's frustrating to hear this warning clarioned over and over again. We're gamers ourselves, after all. We know easily children can get in over their heads on the internet. "Be careful," intone the experts. "Watch carefully, and be very, very careful ..." But how? What must we be careful to do? To not do? What does "being careful" mean in actual practice? Specific online safety tactics – and putting them into practice without driving anyone crazy in the process – become an epic quest reward that always manages to stay two turn-ins out of reach.

As we mentioned last week, your main objective as the parent of a young MMO player is to remain figuratively logged in to their activity. When children are online, parents cannot afford to be figuratively AFK. We're not suggesting you pull up a chair and some popcorn to faithfully oversee kids' every move online. No child needs direct supervision to kill 10 rats (or pick 20 flowers or befriend 30 fairies or frag 50 enemies ...). But young gamers do need your boundaries and your guidance (as well as your feedback, your enthusiasm and your support). Just how strong the boundaries should be will depend on the age of your child and the game that they're playing. Apply common sense, based on your own MMO experience, along with these 17 tactics for safe online gaming.

Tags: authenticator, chat-channel, children, code-of-conduct, cyberbullying, family, family-fun, family-gaming, featured, guilds, handle, kids, manners, netiquette, parental-controls, parents, password, router, safety, security, strong-password, supervision, troll, virus-protection, voice-chat

Anti-Aliased: Hax0red

by Seraphina Brennan Sep 16th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Opinion, Anti-Aliased

Today was a beautiful morning. It was a morning filled with sunshine, chirping birds, and a good night's rest. I was up writing late last night, so it was nice to sleep in a little before getting a start on the day. Yet, all cozy naps must come to an end, as I had to get up to man my computer, check my e-mail, and get a start on today's work.

As I booted up Mozilla Thunderbird and looked over the e-mails that were floating in my inbox (yesterday's MAG comments, Star Wars Galaxies comments, and some new screenshots for D&D Online) I saw one that kinda stuck out. It was from Blizzard Entertainment Support, and it was a password change notification from Battle.net. At first I chuckled, thinking it was some type of spammer who was trying to get me to give up my password, but on looking through the letter, I noticed it was authentic Blizzard material.

That's when my phone rang. It was one of my guildmate's numbers flashing on the screen. Those birds stopped chirping after that booming string of profanities escaped my mouth.

Tags: account-hacking, account-security, account-theft, authenticator, battlenet, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, featured, gold-farming, opinion, paladin, sephare, world-of-warcraft

Square-Enix not discontinuing authentication tokens, authenticators now back in stock

by Seraphina Brennan Jul 28th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Business models, Culture, MMO industry, News items, Consoles

Looks like we can put a rumor to rest for y'all. As we reported on earlier, some people were wondering if Square-Enix was discontinuing their authentication token program as it never looked like the tokens were being re-added to the stock.

We've spoken to Square-Enix regarding this matter, and they've laid the rumor to rest for us. The authentication tokens are not being discontinued (as they are pretty popular) and have now been re-stocked back into the store. We here at Massively highly recommend tossing the 10 bucks towards the token, if you can afford it, as it gives you access to the amazingly useful Mog Satchel -- a second inventory for your character. Better act fast, however, as these tokens fly out of the store very shortly after being restocked.

To purchase an authenticator, log into PlayOnline, go to the Final Fantasy XI top page, select optional services, and then click security token sales.

Tags: authentication-token, authenticator, mog-satchel, playonline, playonline-viewer, restock, security, square-enix-authenticator

Rumor: No more authentication tokens for Final Fantasy XI?

by Seraphina Brennan Jul 26th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Business models, News items, Consoles, Rumors

It's been two months since the Square-Enix authentication tokens sold out, and still there has been no word on when the item will be returning to the online store.

The Square-Enix authentication tokens were SE's answer to the Blizzard authenticator -- an item that generates a constantly changing numerical code that needs to be entered along with your password to gain access to your game. The tokens added an extra layer of security to your Final Fantasy XI account, further protecting it from hackers who would seek to steal your luxurious items and gil.

The tokens came with the highly loved Mog Satchel -- an in-game item that would essentially double your inventory space, no matter how big it was. The satchel will also become larger when your inventory is expanded by the completion of a "Gobbie Bag" quest. However, the satchel is only available through the purchase of a security token. With no tokens being sold, no Mog Satchels are being handed out either.

Have the authenticator sales come to an end, or is it simply taking this long to make more and restock the device? We'll do some digging for you to find out.

[Via PlayNoEvil]

Tags: authenticator, ffxi, final-fantasy-xi, inventory, mog-satchel, security, square-enix, square-enix-authenticator

WoW Insider interviews Blizzard on security

by Adrian Bott Sep 19th 2008 at 2:30PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO industry

Big concerns require authoritative answers, and to get those, you often have to go to the top. That's what our friends at WoW Insider have recently been able to do, getting answers straight from Blizzard, the masters of World of Warcraft.

As issues go, it's pretty damn big: not concerns about class balance or content, but about the basic security of your account, the protection currently being provided against hacking, and what the Authenticator key actually does.

Blizzard, who actively sought an interview with WoW Insider following a (since contested) report of a customer allegedly having his account hacked while using one of the new Authenticators, explain the specific steps the technology takes to ensure security. They also address player concerns about how reliable the Authenticator is. The bottom line: '... we have no verified occurrences of an account being compromised that has a Blizzard Authenticator attached to it.' The full interview can be read at WoW Insider.

For those that don't know, the Authenticator is an optional item (now available through the Blizzard store) that adds an extra layer of security to one or more World of Warcraft accounts. 'It supplies a random digital code that must be entered at login, providing an additional layer of security to help prevent unauthorized account access. Each code is valid for a limited time and can only be used once, so the Blizzard Authenticator must be in the possession of the account holder to log in to the account.'

Tags: authenticator, blizzard, hacker, hacking, keylogger, world-of-warcraft, wow