ArenaNet to integrate Google Authenticator for Guild Wars 2 account security

ArenaNet president Mike O'Brien continued the Guild Wars 2 developer's player community outreach today with a helpful overview on safeguarding accounts against hacking.

on safeguarding accounts against hacking. Among the tips was an announcement by O'Brien of plans for Google Authenticator integration with Guild Wars 2.

As part of an explanatory look at two-factor authentication - when a normal password login gets challenged with a randomly generated code - O'Brien said ArenaNet adopted Google's established authentication system after toying with homegrown solutions.

O'Brien expects a roll-out of the authentication system in about two weeks, but in the meantime, he pointed out the benefits of e-mail authentication and having strong passwords composed of multiple words, linking to an xkcd comicillustrating password best practices.

A blacklist housing "over 20 million" passwords also keeps vigil over your account, according to O'Brien. Its goal is to cut down commonly used passwords hackers constantly scan for and automatically blacklisting old passwords once a player changes it.

"This system has substantially eliminated hackers' ability to steal new accounts, as all new accounts now cannot possibly match what the hackers have been scanning for," O'Brien wrote. "The rate of account hacking was about 1.5 percent for accounts created before this blacklist was in place, and is about 0.1 percent for accounts created after."