Forum post of the day: Rage against the authenticator
Alright, so the splash screen mystery is dramatic. Whatever the important announcement is, I don't think they could come up with one that makes me happier than the new authenticator. I will be first in line to buy mine once it comes out. It seems that most of us are with me. We've been clamoring for better authentication, and we're going to get it.
A one-time charge of six and a half bucks for an extra layer of security seems like a smoking deal to me. It hasn't occurred to me to be bothered by the price. Tuhrell of Malrone believes that the authenticators should be distributed by Blizzard for free. Vallana of Thaurissan is on a short list of responders in the thread that agreed with the original poster. She believes that her $15/month is enough to spend on WoW and is "not retarded enough to get hacked so I really don't need it."
Some posters fear a "shame on you attitude" on the part of Blizzard for users who do not purchase the device who still get hacked. Zarlhym attempted to cull those fears:
We currently have only the intention of releasing the authenticator to provide an extra layer of end-user security for those interested in purchasing it. The idea is not to punish players who do not purchase this; but rather, to provide additional account protection for those who do.
As I understand it, I will be able to link both of my accounts to the same token. If I had to, I would gladly buy two if I had to. By shopping around for VPN authenticators it looks like Blizzard is making very little mark-up profit on the devices. Even if they made nothing off the sales, Blizzard will most likely profit from introducing the authenticators. They may save money in the long run on the man power that they theoretically won't be using to research compromised accounts. Perhaps that fact alone would encourage them to simply donate them to senders.
Internet and account security is serious business. Do you think Blizzard is charging a fair price for their authenticators?
