#17 - June 13, 2010, 12:10 a.m.
Q u o t e:
looks like blizzard may be compromising accounts to sell those things kinda makes you wonder huh?
This is an unfortunately absurd conclusion. We sell the physical Authenticator keyfobs at cost (that is, we do not make any profit from their sale) and, in many situations, we are able to offer the Mobile Authenticator application for
free. There is no gain, monetary or otherwise, in subjecting our loyal, honest players to the frustrations of compromise.
With that said, since you're not sure how your account was compromised, Arcturis, I have a few questions for you about your account's security. Nothing major, but these questions should give you some food for thought and/or point you in a direction you hadn't yet considered:
1) Is your scanning software running on the latest version? The programs you've used thus far to scan your system should have a button, tab, or drop-down option that will check for and then install any available updates. If you haven't used this option recently, please go ahead and do so now. Sometimes, if a certain scanning program isn't updated, it may miss specific, newer threats. (Also, be sure to have the World of Warcraft client open and gibberish typed into the account name and password entry fields. Unfortunately, there are some forms of malware that cannot be detected unless this criteria is met.)
2) Is your operating system up-to-date? Similarly, are all of your browser plugins (like Adobe Flash Player) up-to-date, as well? The latter is very important to check, as running an un-updated version of some plugins can lead to vulnerabilities in your system's security. For example: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25170612629&sid=1
3) Does you ever access (or have you ever accessed) your account from a different computer? If so, could that computer perhaps be at risk? Remember that you will need to examine all computers from which you may have logged into the game client, the World of Warcraft forums, and/or Battle.net Account Management. All three of these locations require an account name and password.
4) Do you use your account name and/or password as your login for any other website? Perhaps a networking site like Facebook or Twitter or MySpace? Or a guild website? If so, this could have lead to your account's compromise.
5) On a similar note, is your registered email address publicly available? A quick way to check is to plug in your address into any online search engine. If the search returns results, then it's probably a good idea for you to update that piece of your contact information. Instead of simply using a different email address, though, my advice would be to set up a completely new address. When creating this new address, make sure that the username and password are unique. Don't use a username (e.g. character name, IM screen name, profile tag) or password that you already use online.
6) Is it possible that you responded to a phishing email and gave out key account information? Or perhaps visited a malicious website and logged in? Unfortunately, some phishing emails and websites in circulation right now are very elaborate. I'm sure even the most diligent of users could be fooled if not paying total attention. It happens, you know?
Lastly, you might want to try using Combofix or Spybot - Search and Destroy. Players have noted success using these two scanning programs, so you may want to give them a whirl. Few more tips and tricks can be found here:
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/30794 :)
Last but not least, you've been in queue for 7 days. Unfortunately, this means that you've still a bit of a wait ahead of you. I sincerely apologize for
any frustration this may cause, but please rest assured that a representative will assist you just as soon as possible.
