[tweakmonkey]

It's no surprise that a World of Warcraft account that's got hundreds or even thousands of hours invested is worth something to someone. Recently an exploit was discovered that allowed hackers (claimed to be overseas in China or Russia) to install keyloggers on players' Windows PCs via web sites, steal passwords, and pawn off all valuable items and characters. The business is so big that stealing a World of Warcraft account is typically worth more than stealing a credit card, but with far less risks and a near unlimited active supply.

Windows users are the primary target and they are still being hit hard by these exploits. CNet has a new article with more specifics:

"It's probably a conservative estimate to say that there's tens of thousands of victims." -Roger Thompson, CTO of security software developer Exploit Prevention Labs

There are over eight-million subscribers, so this is a pretty small percentage. The best way to stay on top of such problems is be a responsible user (I think most of our audience knows what that means as far as installing things and watching pop-ups), use Firefox, and install the latest security patches from Microsoft if you run Windows.

We've heard the best fix of all is to sell your World of Warcraft account and pick-up a new hobby such as going outside and talking to people.