Blizzard detected a virus, de-activated all my accounts.. how?

[MiRai]

r, if you clicked a link in an email from blizzard, (real blizzard emails wont have a link for you to follow in it), and now your account has an authenticator on it, you've been tricked.

The text in bold is incorrect. Real Blizzard e-mails can contain links in them.

[Souca]

Here is the real Blizzard email I got about my account being hacked. This is from 2008, so it's likely they have changed since then. This is just for comparison and to get an idea of how vague they really are.

An investigation of World of Warcraft account XXXXXXX has found strong evidence that the account has been accessed by someone who is not allowed to use it. While you work to regain sole and secure access to the account, we have temporarily disabled access and all billing methods that are associated.

Please keep in mind that if your account is not secured, it may be disabled again after retrieval - because of this, we strongly recommend you follow the below steps very closely.

1.) WHY DID THIS HAPPEN AND HOW CAN I STOP IT FROM HAPPENING AGAIN? (Steps to secure your account)

Account compromises are usually a result of the registered user sharing their account, or playing on a computer that has a virus. Please remember that World of Warcraft accounts cannot be shared with anyone except one minor who you are the parent or guardian of.

To help ensure that no viruses are present that may threaten your account, please keep the following in mind at all times:

-Keep your system up to date with the latest O.S. Updates.
-Make use of protection from firewalls, antivirus and anti-spyware software.
-Be wary of spoof emails and websites.
-Be wary when downloading executables.
-Do not share account information with any unauthorized users.

For details to the above points, please visit ALL of the following links:

- Computer Security: (http://us.blizzard.com/support/artic...rticleId=21118)
- Account Safety Tips: (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20572)
- Unauthorized Access Policy: (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20460)

We recommend you regularly scan all computer systems that you use to remove all viruses, including Trojan files, spyware and key loggers. Also be sure to change your account password regularly at (https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account).

2.) HOW DO I GET MY ACCOUNT BACK? (Steps to recover your account)

To retrieve your account, please send an email to WowAccountRecovery@blizzard.com with the following information:

- Account name:
- First and Last Name of registered user:
- Written acknowledgement that steps have been taken to secure your computer system(s).

Be certain to send this information from the registered email address of the account.

3.) I SENT MY EMAIL, NOW WHAT?

We will contact you again once your submission is received and processed. If you do not receive a reply within 48 hours of sending your email, please resend it to WowAccountRecovery@blizzard.com.

Only Account Administration is able to assist with account retrieval issues. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21505).

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.

Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment

[Iceorbz]

Makes you wonder how profitable this business is... if they really go to all these great lengths.

[Whowantstoknow]

I was hacked 3 times after being completely anal about security (to the point of never typing a password and using bio scanners etc) and 100% sure that I was not personally comprimised (clean install no web browsing etc etc). I concluded that blizzards end is not as secure as they claim it is. I have since got an authenticator and have not lost my accounts since. Those of us that are security savvy can minimise the risks but we can not eliminate them completely (even with an authenticator). I consider not using an authenticator foolish.

[kate]

Makes you wonder how profitable this business is... if they really go to all these great lengths.

These aren't great lengths in any way, shape, or form. Compromising systems is pretty trivial to do, as it's pretty much an automated system once the basic tools have been developed. It costs virtually nothing, when spread out over thousands (or possibly tens or hundreds of thousands) of accounts, to compromise an account, so any money made from it is going to be profit. Figure every 1k gold on an account is going to turn into about 5-7 USD, and any account is going to have at least that much on it by this point.

Going to great lengths would be doing things like calling people by phone, claiming to be Blizzard employees and trying to social engineer account info.

I do admit that I'm somewhat perplexed why a security expert wouldn't have an authenticator on their account in the first place... It costs under 6 bucks (or is free if you put it on your phone) and anyone who works in the industry would surely find that a trivial expense and the time they need to spend rectifying it with Blizzard to be rather more valuable. I am by no possible stretch of the imagination an expert, but this seems to me to be common sense.

[Sam DeathWalker]

I don't run Norton

I don't have an auth.

I dont use firewalls. (without norton or a firewall running I get a lot more speed from my computer)

I have never had any problems. Even with win2000 and win7 which I run exclusivly now is even hard to crack if you keep it updated.

Shut off all remote services. Why they are on by default I have no idea. It is far from trivial to compromise a computer with all remote services turned off, espically a Win7 system.

If the hacker can get around this he not interested in yur lousy 1K gold lol ....

Never open email attachments, ever for any reason no matter who it is from.

Make sure links in emails go to where they say they do.

When you see "Do you trust content from so and so" and so and so you never heard of. Shut the power to your computer immdeatly. Do not close normally shut the power switch.

Back up your whole hard disk with a clone program every week or so.


You can see if your machine is compromised by looking at the auto start registry enteries, there is a microsoft tool that does it easy for you also. Or just get task manager open and check what processes are running.




I know everyone going to start talking about root kits and all that. Look if the hacker is all that competent he is attacking bank accounts or corperate or government systems not your piddly wow account.

[jinkobi]

Well Sam if the hacker went to your website he'd probably be much too frightened to hack you broham! lol I can just hear the hackers now "Hack him?? That Captain Caveman!"

While I agree the hackers want the suckers/easy targets first and they want to put in as minimal effort as possible. I disagree about the authenticator too many advantages to not have one really. Few bucks to add an extra layer of protection protecting is worth it to ME personally. But lets not talk about that because Super will close the thread We've all hashed the arguement to death. It's obvious some will never get an authenticator no matter what- that's their business.

[Sam DeathWalker]

True enough although norton (a lot) and firewalls (to a very small extent) lag out your system there is no real reason not to use an authenticator.