Hackers: Know Thy Enemy

Ok so maybe you got hacked, know someone who did or are worried about being hacked yourself? Before you can begin to take measures against being hacked you must first know who you are dealing with.

Who is hacking WoW accounts?

We call them hackers, people who gain unauthorised access to a computer system. But who are they?

You might think that the guy who just hacked your account did it to steal your gold and items to run off and sell it on a Gold Seller's website. He very well may have, chances are pretty good that he did. But I can guarentee you that isn't why he did it!

Doing this and then selling the gold for real money through an internet site is NOT a lucrative scheme. It may be a source of WoW gold but I can tell you now that any hacker worth his salt knows that doing this will not make him huge profits for the time he spent hacking your account. He certainly won't make enough to compensate for a real salary. He may have made a few quid but nothing worth while.

So why did he do it then?!

He did it........because he can.

The majority of people who hack any computer system don't do it for any reward other than successfully hacking their target. It's a hobby.

Let's take a real life example, one of Hollywood movie script proportions. The Pentagon.
The hub for America's Department of Defense. Lots of valuable information, very dangerous in the wrong hands...A hackers dream! The Pentagon gets attempted hackers everyday, all trying to see if they can penetrate the security system. Most of them under the age of 20 with the intention of getting through and then logging on to Facebook to brag to thier friends. Not many get in, those that do simply look about and leave...nothing malicious is done because once they are in they have completed thier task, that's all they wanted to do.

What a hacker really wants is a challenge, to take the step from changing their neighbours desktop background to something bigger, more exciting...more fun.

Yea but those gold sellers are still getting their gold from hacked accounts.

Can't deny that, hacked accounts, Chinese offices used to farm gold on dozens of computers. Both sources of WoW gold. But it isn't the hacker doing all that. He just broke into your account. He may then sell stuff off for a few quid but it still is not the reason he did it.

Who cares why he did it! I'm not impressed!!

Ah, but now that we know who he is and why he is doing these things, we can look into how to try and avoid being his target

OK, so he's doing it for shits and giggles and making a few quid in the process as an added bonus?

Exactly! He DOES it for fun. Your account may have been hacked dozens of times and you wouldn't know about it, and I'd wager good money that it has! Some will do it just to do it. Others will think to themselves "Hey! I can sell stuff now that I have access to this guys character and maybe make enough money for that new CD I'm after..." This is the part where the goldsellers come into play.

Surely some people are doing it for the money?

Yea I'd guess that some of them are. These guys are not just hackers though. These guys are on a whole new level! These guys...are idiots.

The amount of money they can make from one hacked account:

First: Not guaranteed, they could be spending time hacking an account with very little on it to sell (mine for example ). This is obviously stupid as it will lead to a lot of wasted time. But hey! Some people are stupid *looks at the ER trade chat*

Second: Lets say they are a little smarter. Lets say they target someone who is likely to have a lot to sell, namely a GM of an active raid guild. That will make a bit of cash right?

Well, not really. No matter how much that guys has to sell on to a gold seller, he still won't make THAT much money. Look at the prices for WoW gold we get subjected to viewing in annoying whispers and trade spam. They are buying it cheaper than that. So even if the guys isn't selling it on to a gold seller, if he's doing it himself, he isnt making much money from each account he hacks.

He is therefore and idiot with too much spare time. But like I said, these idiots are out there.

Alright, alright I get it. But how do I avoid being hacked then? Get to the point already!

Patience young padawan, we are getting there.

So the idiots mentioned above, you can't avoid them really. They will hack whoever they want really so you can't avoid being target by that minority.

What about the hobby guys in it for kicks? Can I avoid being targeted by them?

Again no, if you have an account you are a target. Simple as that. However if we remember WHY they are doing it we can lower out threat level so to speak.

Let's remember that they want a challenge, something new and different. This is where more security can lead to you being more of a potential target.

Think of it as you being the guy wearing big bulky armor in a crowd of guys with robes. If someone wants a challenge, they're gonna sock you one in the face. Your armor in this (poorly concieved) metaphor is the authenticator.

So the authenticator is a bad idea? Should I not get one?

I outlined my views on the authenticator here:
https://doomhammer.forummotion.com/general-f1/necrid-what-did-you-do-to-prevent-hacking-t68.htm

Now having it or not having it isn't going to make you more secure one way or the other in the end. At least I don't think it is based on my knowledge of the hacking community and the negatives of the authenticator. It's less than a tenner, if you want to pay Blizz the money for something that should be part of the software anyway, feel free but I see no advantage to it in the end. If you're gonna be hacked you will be and Blizzard's security dongle seems to only complicate things in my view and ease their suffering on restoring accounts.

I do believe that it makes you more likely to be targeted by a hacker since it will be more fun for them to hack (not to mention the many new things they can do with an authenticator of their own like locking you out ans so on).

...so sum up for me, you kinda lost me in all that ranting.

Basically, if you can understand all the reasons a hacker does what he does you may then see things as I see it (and I've done my fair share of hacking. Innocent hacking I assure you.)

There is no way to ensure you are not targeted my a hacker. Authenticator or not, makes no difference really. You may be less of a challenge (therefore less likely to be targeted) without one. But then again you may still get bothered by a budding hacker that hasn't figured out how to get around the security of it.

So that comes down to 'Do you wanna pay Blizz money for something that should be part of thier software by default.' This is purely your choice and you can make decisions yourselves on that one.

All that just to say 'Do what you like??!!'



Okay, it was informative I guess. So now what?

Now we look at making our computer more secure. Not just for WoW (like the authenticator) but as an entire system you use for everyday life (eBay, Amazon, e-mail). Fortunatly it will apply to your WoW account a little more so, since you know you will be the target of a potentially malicious hacker.

I'll be posting guides on virus software. Malware, spyware ad-ware too and give you a review of what I believe to be the best FREE software to use which deals with all of these problems in a single program. and why you are wasting money on paid for software as well.

Thanks for reading

Maybe I could simplify this wall of text.
Buy/download an anti-vir, maybe some other scanners too. Scan regularly.
Lay low on watching porn and downloading random stuff, such as keygens, games, software etc (except the trusted ones ofcourse)

You'll be safe that way. I've always been fine with this. (Laying low on porn does get tough sometimes tho... I know you understand what I'm talking about)

I've been hacked twice I think, but that's due to my old style of downloading everything I could.
I still do get some alerts from F-secure and some stuff pops up in scans every once a while, but I don't think I know anyone who would not have something popping up once in a while.
It's simple to stay away from getting hacked, just do the stuff I said and stay away from suspicious websites.

I even go to the extent that if I want some information from a website X, I first search for forums etc. to find if the website is reliable.

Yahmon wrote:

Maybe I could simplify this wall of text.
Buy/download an anti-vir, maybe some other scanners too. Scan regularly.
Lay low on watching porn and downloading random stuff, such as keygens, games, software etc (except the trusted ones ofcourse)

You'll be safe that way. I've always been fine with this. (Laying low on porn does get tough sometimes tho... I know you understand what I'm talking about)

I've been hacked twice I think, but that's due to my old style of downloading everything I could.
I still do get some alerts from F-secure and some stuff pops up in scans every once a while, but I don't think I know anyone who would not have something popping up once in a while.
It's simple to stay away from getting hacked, just do the stuff I said and stay away from suspicious websites.

I even go to the extent that if I want some information from a website X, I first search for forums etc. to find if the website is reliable.

Links to trusted porn , NOAW!