VentureBeat's GamesBeat 2015 conference took place in October. It was a great conference that I had the pleasure to attend. VentureBeat is regarded as one of the best blogs on the internet according to The New York Times. VentureBeat is a leading source of technology innovations, news, and research. Their GamesBeat conference, which is now in its seventh year concentrates on the latest trends in gaming.
We were thrilled when Authy was invited by GamesBeat 2015 to take part in the event. It's not often that business and pleasure can coexist so seamlessly. Authy helps online businesses secure their data and their customers by making it easy to include two-factor authentication in their service offerings. We also enjoy playing games which means that we are more likely to play on a platform that has improved their security.
Gamers Losing Trust?
Hackers are hot for game developers and gamers, due to the rise of virtual economies on gaming websites. Gaming profiles are now selling for thousands of dollars on the black market. However, it's multi-player games and the $11 billion annual revenue they generate which are the main targets of cyber criminals. The in-game currencies of multiplayer games, like World of Warcraft gold, are easily stolen, exchanged, and easily cashed in for real money, often in various countries, and without game developers being aware. Even if a company successfully recovers stolen assets and/or is successful in bringing the culprits accountable, this type of crime is difficult to overcome. The gamer loses confidence in the game. And even after release of a safer version or a brand new game getting back that trust is never simple.
But It Doesn't Have to be That Way...
As users become frustrated by constant data breaches, they're demanding more responsible stewardship from the organizations that hold their personal data. We all know that passwords aren't enough however we also know that a second factor can be used to verify the identity of an individual. This will protect your players and your service from data loss, fraud or malicious attacks. Two-factor authentication is an excellent option, especially for multi-user online games that allow players to accumulate their data and trade.
Security with just 10 lines Of Code
It's not that difficult to incorporate two-factor authentication. This is essentially my GamesBeat 2015 presentation. Integrating Authy two factor authentication is simple, powerful and reliable. Be Yourself; Everyone Else Is Already Taken Two-factor authentication can be implemented almost immediately with just 10 lines of code
Verify the identity of players at registration to secure transactions of high value and game advancements. You can also protect any game-related activity.
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Yes. Authy for Minecraft.
To illustrate this idea, I created two-factor authentication for Minecraft to demonstrate:
- SMS or text to-voice at log in with Authy OneCode – One Time Passcode generation to validate the player using AuthySoftToken. Push notification via Authy One Touch allows users to swipe their smartphone screen to access in-game purchases as well as any other actions that may require additional security.
Hackers are no longer just after end-user data. Hackers are now targeting entire player communities and some are even trying at destroying entire systems. If gaming developers implement two-factor authentication across the board players will be better protected, developer account data will be better secured and brands will be able to instill trust and loyalty amongst the player community.
As developers know, integrations between applications can be a time-consuming development process. With Authy we've worked hard to ensure it's simple to use for any developer. The Authy REST API handles all the details, including key management and secure data structuring. There are two end-points and pre-built libraries that will provide security to your login process with the language you prefer: PHP, Ruby Python, Java, NodeJS, and more.
If you're a developer:
Head to https://www.authy.com/developers/ to learn more. You can get a no-cost API Key, test it out and then show us how you've integrated Authy #2FA.
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