Andover Forums - World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Millions of web users are being asked to reset their passwords as concerns spread over a major hacking attack.

Yahoo, Twitter and LinkedIn have asked users to change their details, days after gossip site Gawker was hacked.

Online game World of Warcraft, which has more than 12 million subscribers, has also asked some users to reset their passwords.

Blizzard, the company behind the game, said it was an attempt to "minimise the effects" of the Gawker breach.

Although thousands of Twitter accounts were compromised after the attack, there have been few other reports of damage directly linked to the breach.

Many companies, however, have taken steps to identify users at risk and warn them before an exploit can take place. A spokesman for LinkedIn said it necessary to take "proactive security measures" to screen users thought to be in danger.

Defence mode

The attack on Gawker, which runs one of the world's most popular blog networks, was carried out over the weekend by an organisation calling itself Gnosis.

The group - which says it was making a protest at the site's perceived "arrogance" - subsequently published account details of 1.3 million Gawker users online, including a significant number of passwords.

Analysis of the breach has triggered a widespread defensive response because it emerged that many users had chosen common words and codes that left them wide open to abuse.

Documents show that the most popular password among Gawker users was "123456", followed by "password" and "12345678".

Other common terms, used by hundreds of people, included "monkey", "qwerty" and "consumer".

Although security experts warn against the use of passwords that are easy to guess, research suggests such behaviour is increasingly common online.

According to a study by computer security company Sophos, 33% of people admitted using the same password for every single website they visit.

A further 48% said they used just a handful of different codes, while just one in five said they never used the same password twice.

The firm's Graham Cluley said that the domino effect evident among web companies exposed a number of significant issues.

While it was important to remind users that their passwords should be changed regularly, he said, the warnings sent out to users did not always address the central issue of poor password choices.

"The bad guys already have databases of the most common passwords, and they look a lot like this," he said.

"It's no bad thing to try and help, but websites should give users more information about how to create a secure password."

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Blaze Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Enthusiast Joined: 05 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1235	Quote Reply Topic: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Posted: 12 Dec 2010 at 09:40
	Lv 84, 1 to go!!!!

Cloud Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Junkie Joined: 24 Jul 2009 Location: Andover Online Status: Offline Posts: 852	Quote Reply Posted: 15 Dec 2010 at 16:35
	Hah Rekai Im 85 Deathknight.

Hi Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Regular Joined: 21 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 167	Quote Reply Posted: 15 Dec 2010 at 23:16
	Millions of web users are being asked to reset their passwords as concerns spread over a major hacking attack. Yahoo, Twitter and LinkedIn have asked users to change their details, days after gossip site Gawker was hacked. Online game World of Warcraft, which has more than 12 million subscribers, has also asked some users to reset their passwords. Blizzard, the company behind the game, said it was an attempt to "minimise the effects" of the Gawker breach. Although thousands of Twitter accounts were compromised after the attack, there have been few other reports of damage directly linked to the breach. Many companies, however, have taken steps to identify users at risk and warn them before an exploit can take place. A spokesman for LinkedIn said it necessary to take "proactive security measures" to screen users thought to be in danger. Defence mode The attack on Gawker, which runs one of the world's most popular blog networks, was carried out over the weekend by an organisation calling itself Gnosis. The group - which says it was making a protest at the site's perceived "arrogance" - subsequently published account details of 1.3 million Gawker users online, including a significant number of passwords. Analysis of the breach has triggered a widespread defensive response because it emerged that many users had chosen common words and codes that left them wide open to abuse. Documents show that the most popular password among Gawker users was "123456", followed by "password" and "12345678". Other common terms, used by hundreds of people, included "monkey", "qwerty" and "consumer". Although security experts warn against the use of passwords that are easy to guess, research suggests such behaviour is increasingly common online. According to a study by computer security company Sophos, 33% of people admitted using the same password for every single website they visit. A further 48% said they used just a handful of different codes, while just one in five said they never used the same password twice. The firm's Graham Cluley said that the domino effect evident among web companies exposed a number of significant issues. While it was important to remind users that their passwords should be changed regularly, he said, the warnings sent out to users did not always address the central issue of poor password choices. "The bad guys already have databases of the most common passwords, and they look a lot like this," he said. "It's no bad thing to try and help, but websites should give users more information about how to create a secure password."

Blaze Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Enthusiast Joined: 05 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1235	Quote Reply Posted: 19 Jan 2011 at 18:45
	Yeah... Im going to probably cancel my WoW Subscription, Releaseing nearly all content before actual game release? Dumb move.

Cloud Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Junkie Joined: 24 Jul 2009 Location: Andover Online Status: Offline Posts: 852	Quote Reply Posted: 24 Jan 2011 at 19:50
	Yeah, Im playing PTR's

Cloud Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Junkie Joined: 24 Jul 2009 Location: Andover Online Status: Offline Posts: 852	Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2011 at 17:02
	Well, Thing about PTR's is they arnt on permenantly, So i tend to go from PTR to Priv server. If you want to play a Private server you can find a list here. Good to Bad. http://www.xtremetop100.com/world-of-warcraft

Blaze Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Enthusiast Joined: 05 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1235	Quote Reply Posted: 04 May 2011 at 17:44
	I cant play private servers. I dunno how to downgrade the patches.

Rekai Members Profile Find Members Posts Forum Regular Joined: 05 Dec 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 171	Quote Reply Posted: 06 May 2011 at 21:36
	I dont even know if you can. I think the only way to go back is to reinstall and i doubt you wanna do that.