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/

***************************
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.

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

Real ID and Battle.net Privacy Expanded

Blizzard has changed the privacy options for Real ID and Battle.net so that you can opt out of Friends of Friends, remove the ability to be seen in Starcraft 2's Facebook area, and can turn off Real ID altogether.  "To change your Battle.net privacy options, log in to your account's Battle.net management page and select Settings, then Communication Preferences. "
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/30/real-id-and-battle-net-get-expanded-privacy-settings/

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

Blizzard Listens In and Avoids Responsibility

The Melting Pot is a bit shocked at Blizzard's making players agree to allow monitoring of their in-game conversations,
http://www.mmomeltingpot.com/2010/09/editorial-blizzard-are-a-bit-draconian/

...while Adam is annoyed that Blizzard is avoiding their responsibility to make the game less spammer friendly and allowing guilds to require authenticators.
http://thenoisyrogue.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/authenticators-are-rubbish/

Despite my annoyance at how Blizzard allows privacy to be breached, I do feel a little sorry for them trying to shut the barn door now that the animals have escaped.  Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't.

***************************
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

***************************
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

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

Blizzard's Q&A About Real ID

The meat of the posting is that the ability to remove your real name from Real ID will hit about the time Starcraft II comes out, they are trying to come up with some sort of unique ID for the forums but there won't be a way to add a game name to Real ID inside the game.
http://kotaku.com/5589238/questions-and-answers-about-blizzards-real-id-plans

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

Do Your Addons Reveal Your Real ID?

Part of the problem with the Real ID system is that many addons will be able to pull your real name from the Real ID.  Inside this article on this new site (www.MMO Melting Pot.com --bookmark it now) I found a link to a script that apparently tells whether your addons will reveal your identity.
http://www.mmomeltingpot.com/2010/07/a-brief-realid-roundup/

Here's the script itself, pulled from an MMO Champion forum posting apparently.
http://www.threadmeters.com/rYhyCm/Addons_can_show_you_someones_RealID/

By the way, there are rumors that both British and French government entities are investigating Blizzard's privacy breach.  I have been wondering myself how European governments would take this policy, whether Blizzard's reversing the policy will back them off, or whether this will open an investigation into Blizzard's lax security policies in other areas.

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

Real ID Firestorm's Aftermath UPDATED AGAIN

Echoes of Blizzard's decision to expose players' real names on the forums are reverberating still.

Gordon summaries the most interesting posts on this issue.
http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/07/11/the-best-of-the-rest-real-id-forum-fiasco-edition/

Gazimoff's looking at Blizzard with a changed perspective now and starting to look for alternative MMOs that have casters such as those he likes to play.  If you want to see what's in the near future, check out his list of possibilities.
http://www.manaobscura.com/?p=949

Finally, Gnomeaggedon has made plans for life after WOW.   He has come to some hilarious conclusions about Blizzard, what he might like to do in Real Life, and what gamers can look forward to in WOW.
http://gnomeaggedon.net/2010/07/12/my-life-after-wow/

July 6, 2010 is the date the Real ID on the forums policy was announced.  It was rescinded (for now) on July 9.  During this time, many serious players' views of Blizzard and its parent companies changed forever.

UPDATE:  Some folks about Blizzard's privacy breech complained to the ESRB which has something called a Privacy Online policy.  When the ESRB emailed these folks all back with one email pointing out Blizzard had rescinded the policy, they used Reply All, which exposed all the complainers' email addresses to each other.  Sigh.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/12/esrb-unintentionally-exposes-email-addresses-of-people-who-filed/#continued

UPDATE:  The ESRB has apologized.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/13/esrb-issues-apology-over-email-leak/

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

Blizzard Reverses Mandatory Use of Real Names in Forum Real ID Postings

The blue posting is here.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25968987278&sid=1

I think Blizzard was wise to reverse this policy.  I also think they have damaged relations with the WOW player community.  I'm starting to see posts like these--Escape Hatch says Blizzard's customers are advertisers, not game players, so their games will be made to please advertisers instead of gamers.
http://esc-hatch.blogspot.com/2010/07/who-is-activisionblizzards-customer.html

And Gordon is looking to the future when Bioware eats Blizzard's lunch.
http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2010/07/blizzard-backpaddles.html


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

Real ID Firestorm and The Internet Dragon

Shade spells out his objection to Real ID in this phrase--"I want to kill Internet dragons."  A instant classic.
http://greyshades.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/an-open-letter-to-blizzard/

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

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE OR DISABLE REAL ID

WOW Insider has posted the 8 steps you need to take to opt out of Real ID in an article that also recommends ways to customize Real ID if you plan to use it.  I've mentioned this before but since this is the clearest explanation of how to turn off Real ID and also throws in ways to customize it if you plan to use Real ID, this deserves a separate posting.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/08/customizing-and-opting-out-of-real-id/

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

Real ID Firestorm Continues

The outrage about Blizzard's plans to force forum posters to use Real ID (and thus reveal their actual names) continues.  Here's are a few typical postings.
http://panzercow.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/realidiocy/

http://www.manaobscura.com/?p=942

http://stabbedup.blogspot.com/2010/07/wow-realid.html

http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/realid-around-the-web-the-future-will-be-written-in-chicken/

Some folks say this is just Blizzard trying to emulate and integrate with Facebook, whose CEO is very publicly against personal privacy, and we can expect more of this sort of thing.  Here is a posting from May that explains some of Blizzard's plans.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2010/05/blizzard-and-facebooks-friendly-social-networking-deal-launches-with-starcraft-ii-/1

Other folks say that Blizzard is just complying with Korean law.  Does anyone play Korean games who can speak to how well using one's real name works in cutting down on trolls in forums?
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/zeroday/2010/07/07/is-korean-law-driving-policy-at-blizzard/

Blizzard's response is to announce changes to talents, specializations and mastery when Cataclysm hits, hoping to distract players.
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=162553

I failed to realize that tech support forums will require real names to ask for help on technical issues.  Most folks say this is a better way to get help than calling Blizzard's Customer Support.

Two folks have detailed how to turn off Real ID using the parental control options.  Apparently this is not straightforward and easy to find.  As the Greedy Goblin says, stop whining and start acting if you hate the Real ID system.
http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com/2010/07/would-you-stop-whining-about-realid.html

http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-opt-out-of-realid.html

UPDATE:  WOW Insider lists the eight steps to opting out of Real ID and also tells you how to customize Real ID if you decide to risk using it.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/08/customizing-and-opting-out-of-real-id/

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

Real ID Firestorm UPDATED

Blizzard's announcement that they will force anyone using WOW Forums to post using their Real ID (which will reveal their real name) starting with Starcraft II and the WOW Cataclysm expansion has set off a firestorm of comments.  I counted 14 blog posts about Real ID signatures in the forums this morning, 13 of which viewed this extremely negatively. i have not seen any positive postings supporting Blizzard.   Only WOW Head was neutral on the topic.   I list their message here so you can read the details and blue posting announcement to make up your own mind.
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=162433

If you are intrested in Starcraft players' opinions on this topic, Lume the Mad clued me into a poll. I don't know if it is still open, but when I copied the link, 78% of Starcraft players responding to the poll said they would not post in the forums under this new system, 14% said they would sign forum postings with their real names, and 8% said they would create a new Battle.net account with a fake name so they could post in forums.  2,873 folks had voted.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=134327

UPDATE:  WOW Insider is polling WOW players.  You have to vote to see the current results but when I found the posting, 81.5% thought using real names in the forums was a bad idea.  18.5% thought it was a good idea.  2,412 people had voted.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/07/breakfast-topic-real-id-or-real-bad-idea/#continued

You can find the negative postings yourself without any trouble.  Given Blizzard's record with security and privacy so far, the Solo MMO Player views this change in an extremely negative light.  There are crazy stalkers in this world, there are angry ex-significant others, there are employers who will view employee gamers in a negative light, there are students risking future careers by letting it be known they play WOW, there are folks who will enjoy harassing women who used to be able to use anonymity to avoid these cretins, there are parents who don't want their name associated with WOW just because their child uses their credit card to pay the monthly fees, there are folks looking to steal your identity, addons can be programmed to reveal your Real ID and thus your name....

The list goes on.  Let me quote Tobold here--"Blizzard is heading for their first privacy PR disaster."

UPDATE #2:  Blizzard has posted three updates to their original announcement.  First, the use of real names in forum posts won't be retroactive.  Only Starcraft 2 and Cataclysm forums will use real names.  If you use the Real ID opt out (part of the parental controls) the account can't post on the forums.  And Blizzard says they've given a lot of thought to the issue. They want to "create a great social gaming service" by giving away your privacy.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/06/blizzards-responses-on-the-real-id-situation/

The Solo MMO Player will not use the Real ID system.

UPDATE:  WOW Insider is reporting the rumor that Blizzard has changed its mind about blue postings having real names of their employees.  To date it is unclear what Blizzard will have its employees do.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/07/rumor-blizzard-employees-real-life-names-will-not-appear-on-th/

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

Real ID and Privacy UPDATED

The new Read ID part of Battle.net is in effect but many folks are wary of using it for privacy and security reasons.  Here's what Too Many Annas says about the situation, with additional emphasis on role playing gamers using cross-faction and cross-server chat.
http://toomanyannas.com/feature/on-privacy-real-ids-and-roleplay/

Lissanna has the same concerns but phrases them in another way.
http://www.restokin.com/2010/06/real-id-do-you-trust-the-friends-of-your-friends/

Lume is starting an online petition asking Blizzard to improve Read ID privacy.
http://www.lumethemad.com/2010/06/22/petition-to-increase-privacy-options-for-battle-nets-real-id-feature/

UPDATE:  The Stoppable Force tries to bring sanity to the debate by reading the FAQ and summarizing it.
http://thestoppableforce.net/2010/06/22/real-id-heres-some-info-now-stop-with-the-righteous-indignation/

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

Blizzard Bans Players with Viruses, Keyloggers or Trojans

WOW Insider reports a player was temporarily banned when Blizzard found a virus or a spybot on his system when they scanned it.  I have no idea how using an authenticator will help keep this from happening, although WOW Insider says this is the case.
http://www.wow.com/2009/09/04/play-safe-because-a-trojan-can-get-you-banned/#continued

UPDATE:  An explanation of how the authenticator helps you in this situation.  Thanks, Lissanna.
http://www.restokin.com/2009/09/blizzard-is-taking-your-computer-security-into-their-own-hands/

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