Author Topic: World of Warcraft Spyware  (Read 1273 times)

The Jade Knight

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World of Warcraft Spyware
« on: October 22, 2005, 01:15:49 PM »
EFF release:
Quote
Rejoice gaming fans, for the latest new "feature" of Blizzard Entertainment's smash hit multi-player online videogame World of Warcraft is here! No, it's not a new Sword of Destruction or Staff of Power--it's spyware! Yes, unbeknownst to many gamers, World of Warcraft now has an unwanted special feature--a hidden program called "Warden" that snoops gamers' computers, looking for any "unauthorized third-party program" that "enables or facilitates cheating of any type."

According to Greg Hoglund, co-author of "Exploiting Software, How to Break Code," this hidden program opens every process on a gamer's computer, from email programs to privacy managers, and sniffs email addresses, website URLs open at the time of the scan, and the names of all running programs--whether or not those programs, emails, or websites could conceivably have anything to do with hacking.

Blizzard calls this an "anti-cheating system." We call it a
massive invasion of privacy.

Blizzard has scrambled to come up with three responses to the widespread criticism:

Response 1: Warden doesn't collect personal information, so what's the problem?

Well, problem one is that gamers have no choice but to accept Blizzard's word on that. More importantly, if Hoglund is right, Blizzard has a pretty skewed idea of privacy--we can look at your personal info, but if we don't collect it there's no invasion? Hardly. We also wonder how Blizzard's executives would feel if we searched their homes, wallets, and bank accounts and read their letters and emails but didn't write down anything we found.

Response 2: Everyone's doing it. Blizzard points out that many companies use hack-scanning programs.

We all learned the problem with that reasoning from Mom ("If all of your friends jumped off a bridge...").

Response 3: Read the end-user license agreement (EULA).

Blizzard advises gamers of its intent to invade in its terms of service. "People should read contracts," says Blizzard rep John Lagrave.

True enough--people should read contracts. But here's the really depressing part of this story--companies like Blizzard know few people read the terms of service and end-user license agreements that pop up when they install new software or create new accounts, and fewer still have the time, patience, and knowledge to parse the legalese. Without some constraints on what a company can hide within these massive legal tomes, more and more companies will learn that they can invade our electronic privacy for any reason they wish--as long as they disclose it somewhere in the fine print. The cost of such a practice over time is not only access to our personal and private information but also control over our personal computers and devices. Then we really will be prisoners to the Wardens of the networked world.
"Never argue with a fool; they'll bring you down to their level, and then beat you with experience."

Spriggan

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Re: World of Warcraft Spyware
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2005, 03:39:41 PM »
Meh this is old news, about 2 months old, anyone that plays WoW knows about it.  It doesn't bother me that much since I know why Blizz is doing it, people know that it's on their pcs , and everything is hash encrypted so the only programs they find out about are the cheating ones, besides that Blizz has no idea where you are.

Also that article is wrong, the only thing it checks is what process are running and the websites you're open to there's no content checking.  It's not reading your e-mails or laughing at you for being on a WoW porn website.

If you're worried about it then don't play the game, but in the long run the people the most upset about it are the ones cheating.  It's like the Patriot Act, if you're not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about.
Screw it, I'm buying crayons and paper. I can imagineer my own adventures! Wheeee!

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The Jade Knight

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Re: World of Warcraft Spyware
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2005, 04:05:22 AM »
I actually have never played WoW.  I just noticed the article and felt I'd pass it on.  If it's incorrect, I highly recommend you visit www.eff.org and send them your corrections.  It's a pity that they weren't more diligent in their research.
"Never argue with a fool; they'll bring you down to their level, and then beat you with experience."