Game Security (or Lack Thereof)

The Playstation 3's network problems are being written about all over the WWW.  Reading a few of these articles from my favorite sources led me to the website below which is all about game security.  It will be of interest to those with technical understanding but not so much for other gamers.
http://www.playnoevil.com/serendipity/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

My Favorite Phishing Email

The Solo MMO Player got this one today.  It's my favorite to date.  "Hope you can understand."  LOL

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Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 07:24:18 +0800
From: Blizzard Entertainment
Reply-To: noreply@battle.net
Subject: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Christmas gifts £¡

Greetings,
Cataclysm has arrived,, we have to compare World of Warcraft major revision may cause the same to you hope you can understand! 85 new mount coming soon, World of Warcraft players who could be our lucky stars, we will be complimentary seat to the 5,000 new players. You can log Web site application, we will be lucky players randomly. Christmas is about the new mount will be distributed to lucky players.
Look for our registration site:

We will contact you with further instructions once we havein 48 hours of submitting this form, please resend it from the address listed above.
have any questions please contact Billing &
Account Services at 1-800-59-BLIZZARD
(1-800-592-5499 Mon-Fri, 8Am-8PM Pacific Time)

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

[phishing site address removed]

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Yet Another Phishing Scam (the Gawker Hack)

WOW player email boxes are crammed full of phishing emails pretending to be Blizzard warning about last weekend's Gawker hack and asking for a password reset,  but some of those emails are actually from Blizzard.  An example of the real thing is shown at Kotaku.  I imagine a visit to your Battle.net account will help you figure out what's real and what's fake if you used the same email address for Gawker and Blizzard accounts.
http://kotaku.com/5713494/warning-about-world-of-warcraft-phishing-scam

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Phishing Scams Increase

Gordon is seeing an alarming increase in phishing scams that look very real in his email In Box.  He is quite surprised that phishers have his email address since he is so security conscious, not realizing that Blizzard's internal security has been breached.
http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/10/08/wow-phishing-scams-play-on-the-insecurities-they-caused/

The Solo MMO Player's email login, never used for anything except a login address to Battle.net, was breached long ago.

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Account Hacking Discussion

Tobold mentions the huge number of spamming/phishing emails he gets at his WOW account login/email address and states his opinion that most accounts are hacked by folks being phished or having their password guessed.  As usual, the Comments section is very interesting.
http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2010/08/wow-account-hacking.html

One of the sites mentioned in the Comments led me to this discussion of how to choose a strong password that "dictionary hacks" can't break.  I'm going to add the Securing WOW blog to the list of favorite links as it is full of helpful information for the security-conscious.
http://securingwow.blogspot.com/2010/05/suffer-mortals-as-your-pathetic.html

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Example of an In-Game Phishing Email

In case you want to see what you need to be wary of.
http://wowalone.blogspot.com/2010/08/in-game-phishing-email.html

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Newest Email Scam: Free Sparkle Pony

WOW Insider reports the newest scam circulating is a fake offer of a Celestial Steed.  Those of us who wouldn't be caught dead on one of these are safe. Everyone else read this.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/13/new-scam-tries-to-give-you-a-free-celestial-steed/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

More Cataclysm Beta Invites About to Be Issued

WOW Insider reports more beta invitations about about to go out.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/12/cataclysm-beta-next-round-of-invites-going-out-soon/

I'm repeating the link to tips for sorting out the real invitation from the fake ones in your compromised email address used as your official WOW logon.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/03/breakfast-topic-are-you-in-or-out/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Real ID Security Problems

Because of a security flaw in Real ID, addons can now expose your real name.  Details here.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/06/security-flaw-allows-addons-to-expose-full-real-life-names-witho/

By the way, Blizzard is going to use the Real ID system in their forums to cut down on trolls as real names will now be exposed.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/06/official-forum-changes-real-life-names-to-be-displayed/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Help Finding the Real Beta Invite

Help figuring out whether that Cataclysm invitation is real.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/03/breakfast-topic-are-you-in-or-out/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Worried About In-Game Security?

Thanks to Pwnwear, I've found this blog decided to security issues in-game.  It's full of good advice and examples of various attempts to hack gamer accounts.
http://securingwow.blogspot.com/

Gordon has some good ideas for improving security for MMOs, which don't take security very seriously, perhaps because their target audience is 12 years old and doesn't like to read.
http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/06/30/mmo-account-security/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Google Search and Flash Security Problems UPDATED

Blizzard alerts players to a Google search result that leads to a malware site masquerading as Curse.com and a security issue with Adobe's Flash player.  I'm still waiting for Blizzard to improve their own security by changing from an email address login to something safer. Of course now it is too late as spammers and hackers have the WOW email address logins and are using them to send out gold seller spam and phishing emails.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/07/new-issues-with-adobe-flash-google-search-links-could-compromis/

UPDATE:  Thanks to Pwnwear, I have a link to a blog that talks a bit about the Adobe Flash security issue and has a link to the download page for an update to plug the hole.  This is a good site to bookmark as it talks about security issues in WOW.
http://securingwow.blogspot.com/2010/06/patch-your-flash.html

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Real ID a Security Loophole?

WOW Insider believes that the new Real ID system that will be introduced in Patch 3.3.5 as a way of connecting with friends isn't a security worry.  They are wrong.  Using a real email address as a login is always a security concern, especially given that the Solo MMO Player's email address (used only for logging into the game) is constantly bombarded with gold seller spam and pshishing emails.  How else does that happen except Blizzard's Battle.net system has been hacked?  Do you think things will be any different with Real ID?  I don't.  Set up a free account that you never use for anything except logging into WOW and urge your friends to do the same.
http://www.wow.com/2010/05/28/real-id-security-concerns/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Phishing Emails Cover The Solo MMO Player

The Solo MMO Player's email address used as a Battle.net login is crammed full of WOW-related phishing emails.  This is good evidence that Blizzard's Battle.net system has been compromised and the account logins stolen as this email address has never been used for anything except logging into Battle.net.

The following article says these emails are on the rise, and tells you to open a new browser window and type in the battle.net address to check your account status if you think one of the dozens of emails you get is really from Blizzard.
http://www.wow.com/2010/04/30/security-warning-phishing-emails-on-the-rise/

No Blizzard email message to your email login address can be trusted to be real.  Your email login address is not secure, so don't use it for anything except logging into Battle.net. Get yourself an authenticator.  Here's what happens when you don't have one.
http://huntsmanslodge.com/6850/lockout.htm

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

WARNING: Armory Phishing Site UPDATED

Details here.
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/15/beware-of-wow-armory-phishing-scams/

On the other hand, folks really do like the Armory improvements.
http://www.empoweredfire.com/2010/01/15/new-armory-is-pretty-ballin/

UPDATE:  According to WOW Head, the scam was uncovered by MMO Champion.
http://www.wowhead.com/?blog=140185

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

WARNING: Jade Tiger Phishing Email Seeks Battle.net Info

Tobold just posted a warning about a new phishing email that purports to come from Blizzard and offers players a jade tiger pet if you fill out a survey.  Because you have to type in your Battle.net account email and login at the website set up for this "survey," you are opening yourself up to fraud.  After you finish the fake survey a link actually takes you to the Blizzard site.
http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2009/11/phishing-alert-jade-tiger-e-mails.html

BEWARE.

By the way, Matticus has posted a screen shot of the fake email.  It is very authentic looking but wasn't sent to the right account address, which is a huge tip-off that things are not kosher.
http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/11/20/warning-jade-tiger-pet-a-scam/

Tobold is European and Matticus is in the U.S. so this scan is all over.  I repeat, beware!

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com