Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Microsoft warns users of worm that targets MMO players]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/04/microsoft-warns-users-of-worm-that-targets-mmo-players/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/04/microsoft-warns-users-of-worm-that-targets-mmo-players/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/04/microsoft-warns-users-of-worm-that-targets-mmo-players/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Remember how we always tell you to remain vigilant against malicious programs that can compromise your MMO account's security? Well, it seems we now have more reason to remain vigilant.

Microsoft's latest security intelligence report covers the resurgence of worm type viruses and specifically mentions one that targets MMO players -- Taterf. As a worm, Taterf attempts to divine the user's account name and password through keystroke logging, reading the active memory, and even injecting itself into the game client. Either way, by the end of it, you end up naked and goldless. Hrm, we wonder if Taterf has been masquerading itself as our last girlfriend.

Continue reading Microsoft warns users of worm that targets MMO players

MassivelyMicrosoft warns users of worm that targets MMO players originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>account-securitybreakingkeyloggermicrosoftnot-tateru-ninopostload-of-innuendosecurity-warningtaterfviruswe-love-tateru-ninowormWed, 04 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Fiction book features world domination via MMOs]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/16/fictional-book-features-world-domination-via-mmos/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/16/fictional-book-features-world-domination-via-mmos/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/16/fictional-book-features-world-domination-via-mmos/#commentsFiled under: , ,

With the world of creative fiction creating these bizarre, unrealistic stories about video games and how they magically kill people, it's a breath of refreshing air when something comes along that defies the usual conventions. The new techno-thriller novel Daemon by Daniel Suarez is one of those books that escapes from the usual traps of writing about video games.

Daemon features a story about a dead game designer who rigs up multiple programs to run on the condition of finding his name in a obituary RSS feed. Programs that twist enough electronic mediums in just the right way to automatically steal identities, move money, recruit people, and even kill. And where is this virus hidden? In the dead game designer's MMO, of course!

Daemon stays in the realm of plausibility via its writer, Suarez, who has a career as a IT consultant and is an avid gamer. While it originally had publishing difficulties, the book has picked up steam and is now available on his website through companies like Borders, Barnes & Noble, and others. So, when you're waiting during that next raid for your priest to show up and you have nothing else to do, why not give reading this book a go?

[Via The Escapist]

MassivelyFiction book features world domination via MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bookdaemondaniel-suarezfictiongame-designermmothe-escapistthrillervirusFri, 16 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Gold farmers connected with $38 million money laundering bust]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/25/gold-farmers-connected-with-$-38-million-money-laundering-bust/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/25/gold-farmers-connected-with-$-38-million-money-laundering-bust/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/25/gold-farmers-connected-with-$-38-million-money-laundering-bust/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

We've heard about gold farmers tangling with the law before, but this is pretty extreme from initial accounts we've turned up. So while a few of the details coming out of Korea are still a bit hazy, it seems a money laundering operation (working with gold farmers and MMO account thieves) was busted this week while trying to move $38 million between Korea and China. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency stated the operation was headed by a man named Jeong who, with a number of other individuals in Korea, was caught wiring the $38 million in illicit funds.

Korean news site dongA reports: "Jeong and his ring reportedly sold the game money illegally produced in China using cheap labor and virus programs. They are believed to have taken a commission of three to five percent of the money traded to purchase game money."

Continue reading Gold farmers connected with $38 million money laundering bust

MassivelyGold farmers connected with $38 million money laundering bust originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>account-hackaccount-hackingasiachinaeconomyexploitexploitsgoldgold-farmingkorealegalmmo-industrymoney-launderingplaynoevilseoulvirusSat, 25 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Did you give the gift of a hacked account this Christmas?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/17/did-you-give-the-gift-of-a-hacked-account/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/17/did-you-give-the-gift-of-a-hacked-account/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/17/did-you-give-the-gift-of-a-hacked-account/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Do you even know? Many digital photo frames sold at Best Buy, Target, Costco and Sam's Club have a particularly insidious trojan embedded in them - one designed to thieve your account information for a variety of online games.

One of the primo geek gifts of 2007, variations of these devices were bundled with darn near everything gadgety during the holidays. Some percentage of these contain a professionally written and very stealthy little gremlin that Computer Associates has dubbed Mocmex that is apparently capable of robustly concealing itself from many detection engines. This isn't an amateur-night special, by all reports. This is professional nastiness, with multiple variants.

Continue reading Did you give the gift of a hacked account this Christmas?

MassivelyDid you give the gift of a hacked account this Christmas? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>best-buybreakingcomputer-associatescostcoinsigniamaxtormocmexsams-clubsansseagatetargettrojanuniekvirusSun, 17 Feb 2008 00:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Virus warning, HiPiHi may contain trojan [UPDATED]]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/19/virus-warning-hipihi-may-contain-trojan/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/19/virus-warning-hipihi-may-contain-trojan/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/19/virus-warning-hipihi-may-contain-trojan/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Users of the HiPiHi virtual world are reporting that the application uninstaller for the virtual world client may be infected with a malicious trojan, identified as BackDoor.Bifrose.YM aka BDS/Bifrose.Gen.

It is not presently confirmed as to whether this is a genuine threat or a false-positive, but you need to be cautious. Not all virus scanners are reporting this - which says little about whether the threat is genuine or not.

Update: Wikipedia suggests that there is usually a trojan embedded in the uninstaller.

[Thanks to Massively reader ZATZAi for the heads-up, and the image]

Continue reading Virus warning, HiPiHi may contain trojan [UPDATED]

MassivelyVirus warning, HiPiHi may contain trojan [UPDATED] originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>breakinghipihitrojanviruszatzaiWed, 19 Dec 2007 01:30:00 EST<![CDATA[MMO security irresponsibly bad, experts claim]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/mmo-security-irresponsibly-bad-experts-claim/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/mmo-security-irresponsibly-bad-experts-claim/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/mmo-security-irresponsibly-bad-experts-claim/#commentsFiled under: ,

MMO players have more to fear than simply kobolds and virtual super villains. According to several security engineers interviewed by TechNewsWorld, gamers face greater risks than many of them realize, as lax security measures on the part of publishers expose players to identity theft, malware, and potential hack attacks. And as persistent online worlds continue to grow in size, they only become more lucrative targets for online ne'er-do-wells. They attribute much of the risk to the fact that so much of the actual game software lies on users' home computers, and is not adequately shielded by firewalls and other protective measures.

Unfortunately, the solutions posed by the so-called experts betray an obvious lack of experience with MMOs and the people who play them. They cite enterprise networks as an example of having the kind of network security that gamers need to ensure that they're protected from intrusive attacks... So they suggest that people play games from work to alleviate the risk. While I'm enthusiastic about such a prospect personally, I highly doubt that most employers are too keen on the idea of their employees logging in while on the clock and using up company bandwidth to grind for Sporeggar rep. They also suggest purchasing expensive security products, but that's not something I'd imagine most people haven't considered and disregarded already.

A more prudent suggestion, though not one explicitly cited in the article, is to instead be extremely mindful of what kind of mods you download for your favorite games, and from where you download them. If you don't give hackers an open door to your system, than there's probably not too big a cause for concern, unless you're unlucky enough to have bought pre-hacked products.

MassivelyMMO security irresponsibly bad, experts claim originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bugsfirewallshackedhackersmalwaresecuritytechnewsworldvirusTue, 27 Nov 2007 17:02:00 EST<![CDATA[Seagate shuts the gate]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/19/seagate-shuts-the-gate/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/19/seagate-shuts-the-gate/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/19/seagate-shuts-the-gate/#commentsFiled under: ,

The horse has bolted. Do be a dear and go out and shut the gate. You may remember that news broke earlier this week that Maxtor/Seagate drives were coming out rigged to thieve your World of Warcraft account credentials, fresh from the factory.

Seagate responded with a notice that is hard to find, unless you know exactly where to look - no mention of the debacle appears to be on their front page, news, or press-releases.

Continue reading Seagate shuts the gate

MassivelySeagate shuts the gate originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 03:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gizmodoharddrivesmaxtorseagatevirusworld-of-warcraftMon, 19 Nov 2007 03:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Virus on Maxtor HDDs targets MMO players]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/13/virus-on-maxtor-hdds-targets-mmo-players/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/13/virus-on-maxtor-hdds-targets-mmo-players/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/13/virus-on-maxtor-hdds-targets-mmo-players/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Buyer beware, Seagate had released a notice saying that a sizable number of Maxtor Basics Personal Storage 3200 harddrives manufactured since August of this year may be infected with a virus known as "Virus.Win32.AutoRun.ah." The virus is known to probe drive data looking for passwords, and sends them to a central server located somewhere in China. Evidently, the problem stemmed from a specific sub-contractor, and while the issue has already been resolved on their end, the infected harddrives are still floating around in circulation.

What makes this story of particular interest to us is that the virus seems to be looking specifically for passwords for games popular with Chinese MMO players, most notably WSGame, Perfect World, and World of Warcraft. In the announcement on their website, Seagate, which owns the Maxtor brand, describes the effects of the virus as "minimal." If it was our WoW account that were hacked because of their oversight, that's hardly the word choice we'd use.

If you've picked up a new harddrive from Maxtor since August, it might be worth checking your specific model number and calling customer service just to hedge your bets. Here's hoping this is only an isolated case and we don't see anything like this in the future.

MassivelyVirus on Maxtor HDDs targets MMO players originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chinese-mmoharddrivesmaxtorperfect-worldseagatevirusworld-of-warcraftWSGameTue, 13 Nov 2007 13:30:00 EST