HACKED despite my best efforts - suggestions

#0 - June 1, 2010, 3:26 a.m.

My account was hacked over the weekend. Someone was able to change my password, then strip me naked. (I suspect this may be an inside job based on the specific circumstances, which I will not elaborate on here.) Yes, I was notified of the password change via e-mail - however, given that the attack occurred at 5 AM local time Sunday, I couldn't do anything about it ).

It was MOST embarrassing to me that my guild members watched as the guild bank was stripped naked - and were POWERLESS to stop it.

I have ordered an authenticator. I urge ALL WoW players to get one. As it stands now, it may be AUGUST before I am restored (remember that Blizzard must first perform a full investigation to be absolutely certain that I did not strip my own characters). That takes time - and no doubt there are thousands of accounts that have been hacked in recent weeks. Yes, I keep my anti-virus and other protection software current. However, it did not prevent this from happening.

In addition, I urge everyone to use NO(!!!) add-ons. I grabbed one of the most-used ones. That was apparently my downfall.

Under these circumstances, I must consider changing the character names off ALL affected characters. This is because I have no idea what they may have said or done while they were not under my control - given what the hacker did, I would not be surprised if he/she used profanities (or worse) while online. This affects my reputation online. Would it be possible to get free character name changes under this circumstance?

#14 - June 1, 2010, 6:50 a.m.

Q u o t e:
My account was hacked over the weekend. Someone was able to change my password, then strip me naked. (I suspect this may be an inside job based on the specific circumstances, which I will not elaborate on here.) Yes, I was notified of the password change via e-mail - however, given that the attack occurred at 5 AM local time Sunday, I couldn't do anything about it ).

It was MOST embarrassing to me that my guild members watched as the guild bank was stripped naked - and were POWERLESS to stop it.

I have ordered an authenticator. I urge ALL WoW players to get one. As it stands now, it may be AUGUST before I am restored (remember that Blizzard must first perform a full investigation to be absolutely certain that I did not strip my own characters). That takes time - and no doubt there are thousands of accounts that have been hacked in recent weeks. Yes, I keep my anti-virus and other protection software current. However, it did not prevent this from happening.

In addition, I urge everyone to use NO(!!!) add-ons. I grabbed one of the most-used ones. That was apparently my downfall.

Under these circumstances, I must consider changing the character names off ALL affected characters. This is because I have no idea what they may have said or done while they were not under my control - given what the hacker did, I would not be surprised if he/she used profanities (or worse) while online. This affects my reputation online. Would it be possible to get free character name changes under this circumstance?

Given the nature of this, I doubt anything was said, well....not in English anyway :)

<.<
>.>

This was foreign and malicious, Sanmaren.

This has already been reported and opened as an investigation. What is imperative now is to find the source. Chances are VERY high if that's not found, they WILL return.

Having an authenticator is a great extra layer of security for your account. It doesn't mean you shouldn't make sure your system and email are secure. These thieves will take anything they can use that isn't nailed down and aren't beyond lifting banking and credit card information from a system they are into if it's available to them.

This sticky may prove useful.

Computer Security Recommendations
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1778038509&sid=1

Compromise investigations are running a bit over a week at the moment. Once your Specialist has had a chance to look into this for you, they will email you with the results.