Feldon SOE President John Smedley opened the SOE Fan Faire 2011 Welcome Reception with a personal apology. He apologized for the downtime, the hassle of changing passwords, and the service outage that affected all of Sony Online Entertainment this May.
He wasted no time in announcing that all Fan Faire attendees would receive a Vasco Security Authenticator key fob. I personally was provided with an EverQuest II-branded security key fob.
UPDATE: On July 8th, SOE posted a detailed Frequently Asked Questions about the pricing ($9.95 including shipping and handling in the US, plus any extra shipping cost outside the US) and availability of both the Vasco Security Authenticator, as well as a forthcoming FREE iPhone and Android app which will serve the same function. Thanks to Senya for the tip!!
Using Your Authenticator
If you’re not familiar with Security key fobs like this, they are used throughout industry anywhere that enhanced security is required.
Before you can use it,you’ll need to head to SOE.com, login normally, add the Authenticator, and then from then on, every time you login to any SOE product or website, you’ll need to add the 6-digit code from the key fob to the end of your password. When the button on the fob is pressed, ‘SOE’ is displayed, followed by a 6 digit code which changes every 30 seconds.
Key fobs are something that has been in the works at SOE since at least Summer of 2010 (as of last year’s Fan Faire). It’s interesting that Vasco was chosen, rather than industry leader RSA, which is currently in the process of replacing some 40 million security fobs in the field after their own security breach this spring.
It’s unknown when these key fobs will be made available to players who did not attend Fan Faire and what, if anything they will cost.
The SOE Authenticators from Vasco are $9.95 including shipping and handling in the US, plus any extra shipping cost outside the US for international customers. There will also be a FREE iPhone and Android app forthcoming which will offer the same functionality. Read more at the SOE Authenticator Frequently Asked Questions.
To bad they did not give you the cost feldon. I have to thank you for the great job you did covering the event.
The last job I had a I worked in Internet security area. We order our tokens by the box load.
I don’t know about how much these fancy nice ones cost, but ours averaged out to about 4 dollars a person but we did not mail them out you had to come get yours from my cube. I am not sure how much the competition charges for theirs but I think its more than 14 bucks, part of that is s&h I am sure.
If this is what it takes to keep my account from being hacked well then I will pony up the cash for me and the wife.
The WoW ones cost $6.95 plus shipping, plus Blizzard has an iphone app as well. I would guess the SOE ones would be comparable.
Very easy to use. You have to initially link it to your account, then you are good to go. I got hacked in WoW (before I got what they call the authenticator), as there is a popular service that sells all your info to anyone who wants it (including the hackers), and it’s not a pleasant experience. Only silver lining on the cloud was they maxed my character in mining and gathering 😛
So get the key fob!
They are $9.99 (including shipping and handling) for the physical device or there’s a free smart phone app for iPhone and Android. If you have multiple accounts you can use the same fob for all of them. The FAQ can be found here:
https://help.station.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/29041/kw/authenticator
Senya,
Thanks! Totally missed that page.
I guess I will have to upgrade my phone now to avoid international shipping charges. 😀
I’m supposed to entrust my digital security to something with a label boldly proclaiming ‘Made in China’?
Am I the only one who sees a problem there…?
Stupidest thing ever …not free and made in china …really?
No need to be a racist here.
How’s them not being free stupid? With the thousands of players SOE has among their services, do you really think they’d mail them out free to everyone?
Also, I don’t see a problem with them being made in China. I’ll bet your whole computer was made in china, does that mean you shouldn’t trust to use it?
How is commenting on the quality of products made in China “racism”?
Anyway, everything’s made in China these days. Or are you telling me you don’t shop at Wal-Mart or Target and only buy Made in USA stuff?
WoW charges $6.95 plus shipping for theirs and they have 10 million players.
SOE is charging $9.95 including shipping and they probably have ~1 million active subs. And they will have a FREE app for iPhone and Android. And you don’t even have to use it.
It’s been said if SOE sent everyone $100, some people would complain about the denominations.
I’d just like to point out Blizzard also has a free iPhone and Android app, just to make it clear.
Really wish whoever is also using Steve for their name would stop it.
Also, just because you shop at Wal-Mart or Target does not mean you are only buying stuff made in China. Take a look at what you buy next time you will be surprised. I have managed to go into both buying a load of stuff and not one thing was made in China.
But yeah, pointing out that stuff is made in China were most of our hacking problems are more than likely are coming from is not racist.
Where are you getting that most hacking problems are coming from China?
Nolonger – I’m getting it from the Internets and news and forums and various other sources of information. Perhaps you have heard of them?