Those hardcore gamers already know that last weekend the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational took place in Paris. There were very important announcements, as the development of Diablo III. But there was something that did not receive that much publicity, even though IMO it is very important: Blizzard Authenticator.
Basically, this is a hardware authentication token for World of Warcraft. Two-factor authentication based on hardware generated tokens is not new, but as far as I know it is the first time used in a MMORPG, even in any kind of game. Some banks have been using this kind of security measures for years, while others don’t even have two-factor authentication. Just imagine the amount of money that is handled in this game and the real risk that it implies so that Blizzard is offering this solution to the users of World of Warcraft. In the last two years we have seen a huge increase of banking Trojans, as well as malware targetting online games, basically for the two most popular: World of Warcraft and Lineage.
It is very comforting to see that Wizzard is getting involved in their user´s security; many companies should follow Blizzard's footsteps.
Panda Security specializes in the development of endpoint security products and is part of the WatchGuard portfolio of IT security solutions. Initially focused on the development of antivirus software, the company has since expanded its line of business to advanced cyber-security services with technology for preventing cyber-crime.
