Basic Account Security

[Steven 35]

Why should I try to keep my account secure?

It's about as simple as it sounds. 

The less secure your account is, the more likely it is you will be hacked and lose money, time, your reputation, and potentially your entire account.

 

Who would try to violate that security?

Basically anyone that has anything to gain or is bored could try and even succeed in doing this.

"Hacking" has a very low barrier to entry and as a result, basically anyone that has a motive or sees an easy opportunity could choose to take it, at your expense.

 

What can I do to secure my account?

That is the million dollar question that many massive companies invest time and money to solve. 

The simple answer is that there is absolutely nothing you can do to prevent an experienced and well equipped hacker from accessing your account.

 

The best ways of protecting your account are the simplest:

Frequently change your passwords using methods that are hard to guess by humans or computers.

This means that for example "StevenRevival", "123456", and "password" are all terrible passwords for different reasons, the first because any human on the game could reasonable guess it, the second both because it's a very common password and also a simple pattern replicated easily by machines. The last password is incredibly common and is at serious risk if a 'hacker' is using a dictionary based attack.

Do not use the  same password on any other service, even unrelated ones!

This is the easiest and most common method of "hacking" used on private servers, databases of private servers are relatively frequently dumped meaning that any password/username combination used on that website/server is compromised, the main threat from this being that you will likely knot now when that database has been compromised. It is entirely possible that there are several servers you've recently played on that have been either compromised or deliberately set up to give the account information of players to staff members for one unethical reason or another.

Your email is your most valuable digital possession.

Your email is the key to almost every account and service you use, never forget that. You wouldn't give your car keys to a stranger, would you? Never let anyone use your email, never give out your password, never sign in on someone else's computer. If there is one thing you can not afford to have compromised, it is your email. If someone gets your email, they effectively have control of every account that is attached to it.

Keep your computer secure.

The easiest way to do this is to limit the content you see on the computer, regularly do virus scans, keep *everything* updated, and keep your firewall and antivirus on at all times. If you are suspicious about a link, website, file, or service; Don't use it. No exceptions.

Account sharing

No.

Create 'secure' passwords

^ Read that comic, this a much better way of making secure passwords. ^

Examples:

TinyGoldenToupeeNose

WildRevenantCarWater

Two factor authentication

You should always use 2FA on all services whenever available. This means that any hacker will also have to have access to your phone which is obviously orders of magnitude harder to get than access to your email.

Never use VPNs while on your accounts.

Not only does this make your account look more suspicious, it also makes it much more difficult to verify that it is your account based on IP address. In almost all cases on private servers, hacked accounts are verified by eye using the IP address alone. If you frequently use a VPN, it is unlikely you will get access to your account in a decent amount of time.

Bank Pin

Bank pins aren't going to do too much, but they will prevent hackers from quickly logging in and selling your items before anyone notices.

 

 

How to employ some of these security tools/methods

To change your server password

In-game, do ::changepassword password (where "password" is your desired password.)

Remember, ::changepassword is NOT cap sensitive.

To set a bank pin

At home, to the south east of bank you should see 5 purple guys called the "nordic dudes" talk to them in order to set a bank pin.

To change your forums password

On the top left of the forums you should see your username and a downward facing arrow. Click that and then click "Account settings".

Next, click password and follow the instructions in order to continue.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2018 by Steven