Kalamaf Drackonsbane

A few weeks ago I had written about my WOW account getting hacked again. So enough was enough, even the wife was pissed that I had to spend so much time trying to retrieve my account. I had to prove that it belongs to me by waiting on the phone with Blizzard to talk to them and even fax them my driver’s license to prove my identity. So she insisted I get the Blizzard Authenticator so that I don’t have to go through this ever again. It’s only around $18 (shipping/foreign exchange included). No, you don’t have to get this authenticator or pay for it like getting your industrial supplies, in fact it was a very simple process.. and I had it via courier within 5 days.

So how does this authenticator protect you from being hacked again? The Blizzard Authenticator is a small device you can attach to your keychain that provides a second layer of security to protect you from keyloggers and other morons who want to get into your account. Once you associate the Blizzard Authenticator with your account you’ll have to login to the game using 2 passwords. Your regular one, and one provided by the authenticator when you push the button on it.

As you can see from the picture, there is a barcode with a serial number on the back. This in technical terms is the encryption seed. When you buy the authenticator, you enter this serial number into your account. When you press the button on the front of the authenticator it takes your serial number and applies a secret Blizzard algorithm (likely fractals) to it that is relational to the current time and date. The result is a six-digit code that displays on the front of the unit. Since hackers don’t know the algorithm (or your serial number for that matter) the chances of them getting into your account are practically zero.