!King_Amazon!
2008-10-22, 08:12 AM
Who has one? If you don't, you might want to look into it. If you play World of Warcraft, it might be the best $6.50 you'll ever spend on the game. In case you don't know what it is, I'll describe it for you.
In the words of Blizzard, "The Blizzard Authenticator is an optional tool that offers World of Warcraft players an additional layer of security to help prevent unauthorized account access. The Authenticator itself is a physical "token" device that fits easily on a keyring."
Here's a picture:
http://www.blizzard.com/store/_images/product?productId=1100000822&type=3&loc=en-US
Once you have the authenticator, you associate it with an account by going into account management and putting in the serial number of the authenticator. You can associate a single authenticator with multiple accounts, if you want. Once you've done this, the authenticator is required to log in to account management or to the game. Any time you try to log into the game or into account management, you're prompted to enter a 6 digit code that is generated by the authenticator. It does not replace your username and password; it's simply an extra layer of security.
Essentially, what this does is makes your account incredibly more secure for very little cost. You could, in theory, tell anyone and everyone you know your account name and password, and unless they have your authenticator, they can't log in to your account. This means that you no longer have to worry about your account being stolen by malicious players using keyloggers. While it's true that with some common sense you can avoid keyloggers, mistakes happen, and players distributing keyloggers are getting more and more clever by the day, attempting to find more ways to trick people into clicking on malicious links.
For $6.50, which INCLUDES shipping, you can't really go wrong. Having the knowledge that your account is significantly more secure is more than worth the $6.50 that this device costs. Ordering it is easy, and the shipping is pretty speedy for being free.
You can find the authenticator here at the Blizzard Store. (http://www.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000822) If you're outside of the US (Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Latin America,) you need a different authenticator which you can find here. (http://www.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000222)
A few warnings:
1. Once you link an authenticator with an account, the only way to remove the authenticator from the account is by calling Blizzard's billing and account services department. While I don't know from experience, this very well might be a difficult thing to do. If you're planning on selling your account anytime in the near future, getting this tool might be a bad idea, because you'll have the inconvenience of having to remove it from the account before you can sell the account to anyone (unless you send them the authenticator.) On the other hand, it still might be a good idea to have it, because the inconvenience of having to remove the authenticator might be worth guaranteeing that you'll still have the account to sell.
2. You MUST have your authenticator to log in to your account. This means that if you frequently play World of Warcraft at more than one location, you have to take the authenticator with you. You can't have more than one authenticator linked to your account, so having an authenticator for each location isn't a valid option.
3. If your authenticator gets lost or stops working, you will not be able to log in to your account until you contact Blizzard's billing and account services department. When you contact them, you'll need to have your authenticator serial number, or your secret question and information and such if you lost the authenticator. Recovery is basically the same as if you were to get your account stolen, except you don't have to worry about your account being stripped.
If you have any questions, I'll add them here. If you're wondering why I spent time writing this, it's because I think that this tool is incredibly valuable for the very minor cost, and can prevent a lot of headache. It's simple to use and cheap, but very effective. It's the best account security I know of for any game currently available. If you don't already have one, consider getting one. It really is worth it.
In the words of Blizzard, "The Blizzard Authenticator is an optional tool that offers World of Warcraft players an additional layer of security to help prevent unauthorized account access. The Authenticator itself is a physical "token" device that fits easily on a keyring."
Here's a picture:
http://www.blizzard.com/store/_images/product?productId=1100000822&type=3&loc=en-US
Once you have the authenticator, you associate it with an account by going into account management and putting in the serial number of the authenticator. You can associate a single authenticator with multiple accounts, if you want. Once you've done this, the authenticator is required to log in to account management or to the game. Any time you try to log into the game or into account management, you're prompted to enter a 6 digit code that is generated by the authenticator. It does not replace your username and password; it's simply an extra layer of security.
Essentially, what this does is makes your account incredibly more secure for very little cost. You could, in theory, tell anyone and everyone you know your account name and password, and unless they have your authenticator, they can't log in to your account. This means that you no longer have to worry about your account being stolen by malicious players using keyloggers. While it's true that with some common sense you can avoid keyloggers, mistakes happen, and players distributing keyloggers are getting more and more clever by the day, attempting to find more ways to trick people into clicking on malicious links.
For $6.50, which INCLUDES shipping, you can't really go wrong. Having the knowledge that your account is significantly more secure is more than worth the $6.50 that this device costs. Ordering it is easy, and the shipping is pretty speedy for being free.
You can find the authenticator here at the Blizzard Store. (http://www.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000822) If you're outside of the US (Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Latin America,) you need a different authenticator which you can find here. (http://www.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000222)
A few warnings:
1. Once you link an authenticator with an account, the only way to remove the authenticator from the account is by calling Blizzard's billing and account services department. While I don't know from experience, this very well might be a difficult thing to do. If you're planning on selling your account anytime in the near future, getting this tool might be a bad idea, because you'll have the inconvenience of having to remove it from the account before you can sell the account to anyone (unless you send them the authenticator.) On the other hand, it still might be a good idea to have it, because the inconvenience of having to remove the authenticator might be worth guaranteeing that you'll still have the account to sell.
2. You MUST have your authenticator to log in to your account. This means that if you frequently play World of Warcraft at more than one location, you have to take the authenticator with you. You can't have more than one authenticator linked to your account, so having an authenticator for each location isn't a valid option.
3. If your authenticator gets lost or stops working, you will not be able to log in to your account until you contact Blizzard's billing and account services department. When you contact them, you'll need to have your authenticator serial number, or your secret question and information and such if you lost the authenticator. Recovery is basically the same as if you were to get your account stolen, except you don't have to worry about your account being stripped.
If you have any questions, I'll add them here. If you're wondering why I spent time writing this, it's because I think that this tool is incredibly valuable for the very minor cost, and can prevent a lot of headache. It's simple to use and cheap, but very effective. It's the best account security I know of for any game currently available. If you don't already have one, consider getting one. It really is worth it.