This past summer, approximately in the month of May, Blizzard Entertainment (a subsidiary of an American video game publisher called Activision) had had their users’ account in harm’s way and many accounts were hacked. The hackers were able to wrongfully take users’ hard earned game gear and game gold. Now, these may just seem like child’s play, but it indeed takes a very long time to acquire gold and certain gear in the gaming world. These items actually do hold real life monetary value. Gamers around the world sell not only gold and gear, but their entire character. The game has players that they call avatars and these characters gain experience levels.
Well, just recently, a couple of players of the game have felt that the hacking was deemed negligence on Blizzard Entertainment’s part. Some players felt such a strong feeling of resentment that they have decided to take action and litigate. While litigation has started with just two players of the game, it has evolved in to a full blown class action lawsuit. The premise of this suit is that Blizzard should be offering the authenticator application as part of their monthly service that is players are already be charged. Instead, Blizzard decided to charge players for the use of their authenticator.
The authenticator is used in conjunction with a physical device, a fob key or a mobile device. The fob key is sold by the gaming company and retails for about $6.50. With this added stream of revenue, it seems as though Blizzard may have made $26 million. Blizzard attempts to defend themselves by stating their infrastructure is already secured and the authenticator is merely an additional layer of security for their uses.
Essentially, the authenticator is a form of two factor authentication using a random generated code called a one time password to secure its network. This code is sent to the user’s device of choice and at that point in time, they can enter the code in order to gain access. In this particular case, Blizzard requires that the authenticator be used either with a player’s mobile device or via a key fob when distributing the one time password. Using this form of security is a secure method of safeguarding accounts of all different sorts, industries ranging from health care, financial and governmental.
