Friday, August 10th 2012
Blizzard Servers Hacked, User Data Compromised
Online gaming giant Blizzard Entertainment reported unauthorized access to its servers. The security breach was detected earlier this week, and the company claims that the hackers may have accessed user data such as e-mail addresses of Battle.net users, their personal security questions, and information related to mobile and dial-in authentications.
Blizzard claims that the information compromised is not enough for anyone to gain access to the Battle.net accounts, and that there was no evidence to suggest that more vital bits of user data, such as real names, credit card information, or billing addresses were accessed. Users' Battle.net passwords, which are cryptographically-scrambled, may have been accessed. Since SRP (secure remote protocol) is used to protect the passwords, it is extremely difficult to unscramble them. Blizzard strongly recommends users to change their passwords as investigations into the security breach are on.
Source:
Shack News
Blizzard claims that the information compromised is not enough for anyone to gain access to the Battle.net accounts, and that there was no evidence to suggest that more vital bits of user data, such as real names, credit card information, or billing addresses were accessed. Users' Battle.net passwords, which are cryptographically-scrambled, may have been accessed. Since SRP (secure remote protocol) is used to protect the passwords, it is extremely difficult to unscramble them. Blizzard strongly recommends users to change their passwords as investigations into the security breach are on.
32 Comments on Blizzard Servers Hacked, User Data Compromised
I would hope their programmers know this, but that's like saying "I would hope they know to keep their programs updated" Someone somewhere in the company needs some security training or know how to use Google to check for known exploits. Bad Blizzard, BAD!
In the whole forums i register, they get the one i dont! :)
But I also use a authenticator.
Having an authenticator and using pre-paid game cards, I'm personally not worried about anything. Out of roughly 10 million people who play wow, plus other blizzard games, also inactive accounts created over the years... Odds are pretty slim anything happened to you.
I would say it is either something unavoidable or they're really trying to skim the bottom line..
There is no such thing as 100% secure, as the "guards at the gates" will always have some inherent weakness which sooner or later someone will find and exploit.
Training and updating is, of course, paramount but that will not stop a hacker who finds a way in that no one knew existed. As protection gets better so do the hackers, and it's a constant battle to keep networks secure.
And Easy Rhino is right ... one disgruntled employee with server access, and a bone to pick, will foil your best efforts at intrusion prevention.
Even if they didn't get the credit cards and other info, the emails and names are enough for spamming.
Name + Email + some other personal info = Spam (scam) that really looks like an actual email!
I have to admit that it was more than 15 years ago when I had to touch security related stuffz, (so I pretty much have no clue how it's going nowadays), but these massive user data leaks are happening all over the globe, and somehow I feel that there must be a way to prevent it happening this large scale, even if it's impossible to avoid it entirely .
These kind of news telling stories that the hackers are getting the whole user databases, and the only question is that if they can "decode" it or not in that particular case.
(I hope all of this doesn't sounds like that I want to be a smart*** here, because (honestly) I'm not...:B)
When you open a window to let the air in, it can be very difficult to keep the dust out despite your best attempts.As more and more information is kept online, more will be hacked. It's the nature of the beast.
Even the best minds in the security fields fight this kind of thing daily. It is no trivial task.
Add to that the fact that even the best admins are human and may make mistakes ...This is usually more the media capitalizing on sensationalistic news than the reality. If things are encrypted in a secure manner it is still VERY difficult to extract information.Better to be a smartass than a dumbass. lol
Just kidding, your post was fine and brings up good discussion.