- Aug 26, 2004
- 14,685
- 1
- 76
WoW Spyware....
- Thread starter quakefiend420
- Start date
- Aug 26, 2004
- 14,685
- 1
- 76
so you're ok with blizzard possibly pulling personal info out of other windows open on your comp?
They arent pulling personal information out of anything. They are creating a unique hash of the title bar of the app and comparing it against a list of unique hashes that match known cheat applications.
I don't know much about OS design, but ideally shouldn't process memory be private, or at least be protected from non-admin applications?
Ever tried playing games in a non-admin enabled account?
Yeah, difficult at best for most online games. people run as administrator such that all apps are admin apps.
This is the larger concern in my mind. Not that Blizzard is doing it, but that Windows allows such a thing to happen.
Oakenfold
Diamond Member
- Feb 8, 2001
- 5,740
- 0
- 76
You are trusting them to do only what you stated with the information that is available to them.
I don't understand the technicality of this so if I'm off mark here forgive me but that's quite a bit of trust to put in someone. Tthey have the info to compare, there's nothing to prevent other information from being retrieved.
I am with RBachman in this situation. Normally it would bother me, but under the circumstances, it dos not. I hate cheaters in online gaming.... :-/
Malladine
Diamond Member
- Mar 31, 2003
- 4,618
- 0
- 71
All for it
And btw, the author of that website just so happens to be the alleged author of a program designed to hack wow. In doing this he is attempting to force blizz into abandoning the idea, thereby increasing the effectiveness of his own vile behaviour.
And btw, the author of that website just so happens to be the alleged author of a program designed to hack wow. In doing this he is attempting to force blizz into abandoning the idea, thereby increasing the effectiveness of his own vile behaviour.
Oakenfold
Diamond Member
- Feb 8, 2001
- 5,740
- 0
- 76
Blizzard knowing more about me than they already do is concerning, particularly what is done with the data and how secure it is.
Evidently you must not use your PC for work or Financial Transactions.
I do, the fact that the data is possibly retrievable creates a big security concern for me.
What is stopping this from actually looking over my HDD?
And what makes you think that there is no possible way that any other piece of software on your computer could be doing, or may do similar things? There is nothing to prevent Adobe Acrobat, Flash, or any other piece of software that is likely on your system from doing the same thing. See the the spin there?
Fact is they are only doing as I mentioned, and to start fear mongering of what they COULD do is just plain FUD.
Besides, Blizzard already has all the personal info they need when you create an account. Name, address, CC number and expiraton.
I'm sure if you read through the EULA it might mention something about it. No one ever reads all of them and always agree to them.
It's a hash. End of story.
Now if it was transmitting flat data back to the mothership, I might have to put my computer room on DefCon 1 and get in my tinfoil armor.
Now if it was transmitting flat data back to the mothership, I might have to put my computer room on DefCon 1 and get in my tinfoil armor.
They added a section to the EULA at one of the patches when they added this spyware.
After each patch they tell you the EULA and TOS have changed so read and agree to them again. Of course they don't highlight the changed section to actually help the consumer find just the useful information in these documents...
I wonder if they even change the EULA every patch. It always says that the EULA and TOS have changed.
After each patch they tell you the EULA and TOS have changed so read and agree to them again. Of course they don't highlight the changed section to actually help the consumer find just the useful information in these documents...
I wonder if they even change the EULA every patch. It always says that the EULA and TOS have changed.
It is worth noting that the author of this is a rather staunch anti-blizzard guy..
the people who complained about the battle-net emulators weren't doing it so they could play on their own LAN, they were mad because their pirated copies of WCIII wouldn't work without it.
Why would you have open programs that have any sensitive data in them when you are playing WoW anyway? I could maybe see something like an IM client, or a teamspeak program, but that is pretty much it....if you have Quicken open while you are playing WoW I really have to wonder why..
Sad, but companies need to take such measures to combat software piracy...I'm not overly happy that Windows allows this type of activity, but I don't blame Blizzard for trying to combat piracy and game exploits...remember, they have my Credit Card info already, so I'm not sure how this type of stuff is any more dangerous than that.
the people who complained about the battle-net emulators weren't doing it so they could play on their own LAN, they were mad because their pirated copies of WCIII wouldn't work without it.
Why would you have open programs that have any sensitive data in them when you are playing WoW anyway? I could maybe see something like an IM client, or a teamspeak program, but that is pretty much it....if you have Quicken open while you are playing WoW I really have to wonder why..
Sad, but companies need to take such measures to combat software piracy...I'm not overly happy that Windows allows this type of activity, but I don't blame Blizzard for trying to combat piracy and game exploits...remember, they have my Credit Card info already, so I'm not sure how this type of stuff is any more dangerous than that.
Oakenfold
Diamond Member
- Feb 8, 2001
- 5,740
- 0
- 76
I know what you mean, the thing is think about the world in general. Anandtech users are a bit savy, we don't respond to phising attempts in our email, we use firewalls and anti-virus, I personally am a performance slut so I close all of my applications when gaming however this doesn't mean that everyone else in the world is going to do such things. Personally I would be afraid that my hdd could be scanned, documents opened and data retrieved.
It's not transmitting any readable data. They are hashing titlebars, and sending the hash over to be compared against known exploits/cheats. As long as the data is not sent in a flat form you have zero to worry about.
To gain the information gleaned from your titlebar(of all things), a cracker would need to access the blizzard hash algorithms(IE their systems), then access your titlebar hashes. If they could do that You'd-have-bigger-F'ing-Problems? than worrying about your titlebar information. Due to the fact they would probably have all of your credit card information.
To gain the information gleaned from your titlebar(of all things), a cracker would need to access the blizzard hash algorithms(IE their systems), then access your titlebar hashes. If they could do that You'd-have-bigger-F'ing-Problems? than worrying about your titlebar information. Due to the fact they would probably have all of your credit card information.
HardcoreRobot
Lifer
- Nov 7, 2000
- 16,403
- 3
- 81
what are they gonna do, steal my CC number?
the same one I already freaking gave them voluntarily?
anyways, im glad they are trying to stop hackers, hope they are/stay successful
the same one I already freaking gave them voluntarily?
anyways, im glad they are trying to stop hackers, hope they are/stay successful
you peeps that are against this are paranoid. They day Blizzard pulls up your business records and steal millions of dollars from your home business is the day the world ends. Blizzard DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU, they ARE NOT out to get you...if you are that paranoid u need to use a pen/paper and lock all records up in a fireproof safe contained in a bomb shelter approximately 500m below sea level.
oogabooga
Diamond Member
- Jan 14, 2003
- 7,806
- 3
- 81
I'm a bit bothered at the potential for abuse : but at the same time - blizzard seems to only care about making money. And as far as i can tell the way they care about making money is getting people to give them their credit card numbers in exchange to play in a digital world they maintain and provide.
I'm more pissed off about their neglect of high end players in WoW moreso then their using hash coding to try to stop cheaters. *shrugs* Maybe i am being a bit naive though (as are all us wow addicts).
I'm more pissed off about their neglect of high end players in WoW moreso then their using hash coding to try to stop cheaters. *shrugs* Maybe i am being a bit naive though (as are all us wow addicts).
Any program that connects to the internet could "potentially" be stealing your naughty home videos and ocelot pr0n to forward on to the software company. Unless a file is encrypted and/or in a per-user folder (for a different user) a Windows application can open almost any file on the system for read access.
It can also install keyboard hooks to monitor your typing, so no need to get the titles of other programs or to scrape their screens just to get your ING account password.
If your tinfoil hat won't protect you, you should avoid running every program (including your browser) than can connect to the internet.
It can also install keyboard hooks to monitor your typing, so no need to get the titles of other programs or to scrape their screens just to get your ING account password.
If your tinfoil hat won't protect you, you should avoid running every program (including your browser) than can connect to the internet.
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