Found on MMORPG.com - Blizzard has announced the Blizzard Authenticator, a small device that adds an extra layer of security when playing World of Warcraft.

This is a hardware widget, for only $6.95 and available soon thru the Bliz online store, that provides an extra layer of security for people concerned about their accounts. Here’s the rest: Blizzard Authenticator

In addition to account scams that this is designed to prevent there are a few other scams, in-game and out, that are of concern to players.

You’ve probably heard the stories of users who’ve been scammed out of their gold, items, or even their accounts. In a flash, all of the time and effort they’ve put into building the perfect account has been stripped out from under them by a clever scammer. Don’t let this happen to you!

Get the book here and scam-proof your WoW game!

Hey, if this is your first time here, consider subscribing to my news feed or even subscribe to this blog by email. Thanks for visiting!

One of the tools available to the World of Warcraft player is a software bot, name of Glider. Basically this bot plays your character for you, killing stuff, leveling up, collecting loot to sell. Naturally enough, Blizzard doesn’t much care for programs that do this, considering them to be a violation of their TOS (Terms of Service.)

Now Bliz is taking a new, highly questionable, tactic in a lawsuit against the Glider maker…

In 2006, Blizzard and Vivendi showed up at an MDY employee’s home and threatened legal action against the company, claiming Glider violates the Terms of Service of World of Warcraft as well as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. MDY then sued to establish its right to sell its software, causing Blizzard to file its own suit to stop MDY from selling the program. The issue is whether or not Glider is breaking any laws, and Blizzard is hoping that by stretching the boundaries of what constitutes copyright infringement, it can get MDY shut down. If Blizzard succeeds, it could set a very dangerous precedent….

Read the rest here

More on Blizzard and the Glider lawsuit here:

By the way, Blizzard won.

World of Warcraft Glider Litigation Update: Final Briefing On … - Late last month, World of Warcraft creator Blizzard asked the US District Court for the District of Arizona for a permanent injunction which would functionally shut down MMO Glider, a “bot” program that lets people play World of …

Blizzard > Glider: 1-0, The Retardation of Copyright Law - Blizzard has won the lawsuit vs. the creator of the Glider botting software. Check out the news and debate over at Slashdot. I would sit and discuss this a bit more but I am quite tired and have to be up early. …

Blizzard vs Glider - Quite a while ago, Blizzard sued MDY LLC (Glider) for EULA violation because it copied bits of World of Warcraft into RAM, did wonderful things to them, and somehow subverted Warden. End result: it played the game for you; AKA Botting. …

Blizzard 2, Glider 0 at Ten Ton Hammer - In the continuing drama that is the Blizzard v. MDY suit, (MDY being the makers of Glider - the post popular WoW bot software) a major judgment has come down in Blizzard’s favor. The two important parts of the judgment are these: …