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Valve introduces Steam Guard to fight account phishing and hijacking
What's Steam's "number one support issue" according to Valve's Gabe Newell? "Account phishing and hijacking," says the boss. In an effort to combat the theft of digital goods, Valve has announced Steam Guard, a new service that allows users to restrict account management to a specific Intel-powered PC. Using Intel Identity Protection Technology (IPT), a hardware-based feature available in second generation Intel Core processors, Steam Guard users will be notified whenever a different PC attempts to log into or modify their account settings. This should give Steam users "the account security they need as they purchase more and more digital goods," said the filthy rich Newell. Because Steam Guard is hardware-reliant, the service will not be available to all Steam users. Still, Valve's Doug Lombardi expects "to see widespread adoption of hardware-based security like Intel IPT by other service providers" in the future. "If as a customer you are buying movies, music, games, or digital goods, you want to know that they are more secure than your physical goods."
