WOW Gets Hacked in Korea
World of WarCraft Leaks Private Information of Users
Blizzard Entertainment's popular massively-multiplayer online role playing game World of WarCraft gets hacked in Korea.
Blizzard Entertainment's popular massively-multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) World of WarCraft was hacked once more in Korea, leaking private information of users.
What was Hacked?
The hacking was first noted by a Korean user through an Internet game community site on March 7 and quickly became known through the World of Warcraft (WOW) community. The user was unable to log into the game because the password had been changed without permission. It later became known that a hacker used an illegal program called "Key Logger" to infiltrate into the Blizzard server and obtain personal information of the users.
Responding to growing number of hacking cases, the Korean office of Blizzard (developer of the game) posted notices on its website on March 13 and 18 and began to patch up the damage. They set up a 24-hour task force to investigate into the matter and analyze user accounts so they could recover any lost game items. For WOW players, losing certain items (which range from armor to cyber gold) are a particularly sensitive because they take a long time and luck to acquire.
On Internet forums, users complained about the slack response of Blizzard and of their inability to access (and play) the game for several days. Users, however, noted that this was not the first time such account hacking occurred and called for Blizzard to tighten its security system. A major hacking incident had also taken place in June last year.
Blizzard publicly apologized about the hacking and admitted that recovery was being delayed due to the large number of cases.
World of Warcraft Continues to Grow
Despite hacking problems, World of Warcraft continues to be popular. With 10 million players around the world, World of Warcraft is the top online game in terms of monthly subscribers. Its 4 top markets are the United States, Europe, China, and Korea.
In a recent press conference held in Seoul, Vivendi's CEO Bruce Hack said that he anticipated double digit growth worldwide, citing World of Warcraft as the driving power. Vivendi holds a major share in Blizzard, which helped improve its revenue last year.
About World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a 3D online massive- multiplayer role playing game, developed by Blizzard Entertainment and published by Vivendi. Players are able to choose a character from a variety of different species such as humans, dwarves, trolls, and elves. They then journey across vast landscapes performing specific quests and befriending other players in the process. The game was launched in 2004 and has been updated with an expansion pack "The Burning Crusade" last year. A second expansion is on the way, but no dates have been confirmed.
