The Blizzard Authenticator
So, Blizzard has announced a new tool to help with account authentication. The Blizzard authenticator will be a USB dongle that you can associate with any number of accounts. Once associated, you will have to have the authenticator to log in to those accounts, both in the game and on the account management page. John (a.k.a Windshadow) talks about the mechanics of the authenticator over at The Big Bear Butt Blogger.
While I think this tool will be a good thing, it will soon become mandatory for any player who doesn’t want to get hacked. Not because Blizzard will make it so, but because the hackers will. It’s going to be tough going for those without the authenticator after it becomes wide spread. The pressure on players who aren’t using the authenticator will become intense. And we will see a much higher percentage of accounts hacked.
So, quickly, I can see the Authenticator becoming a double edged sword…One the one hand, it will offer those who use it an extra measure of protection. It won’t be impenetrable (any security we can dream up can be defeated eventually), but it will be extremely helpful and will start out as a point of diminishing returns for the hackers.
By the same token, once it reaches about 25% saturation in the playing populace, we are going to see a need develop that more people adopt it quicker. Hackers will become more aggressive as the low hanging fruit disappears and will step up assaults on the remaining un-Authenticatored accounts.
And I have I don’t have any idea how this will affect people who dual or multi-box…I know you will be able to associate the Authenticator to more than one account, but it doesn’t tell me if the dongle must remain on the computer while you’re playing…
I will probably buy at least one (only one if I don’t have to keep the authenticator plugged in while playing). If only to prevent the further pressure that I might get hacked if I don’t have one…
