{"id":28185,"date":"2020-10-30T16:44:57","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T14:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/28185\/"},"modified":"2020-10-30T16:44:57","modified_gmt":"2020-10-30T14:44:57","slug":"battlenet-privacy-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/28185\/","title":{"rendered":"How to protect your Battle.net account from hackers and scammers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Losing your Battle.net account, and the years of gaming and grinding progress, could be a nightmare. There are better ways to quit <em>WoW, Hearthstone, Overwatch,<\/em> and other games that seem too addictive to walk away from, for sure. Assuming you\u2019d rather keep gaming with your Blizzard account, safeguard it with our guide.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#security\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blizzard account security<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#security-password\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to change your Battle.net password<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#security-question\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to change the security question<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#security-authenticator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to set up two-factor authentication on Battle.net<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#security-logins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to ensure that only you have access to your account<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#security-phishing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Don\u2019t leak your Battle.net password<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#privacy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Privacy settings<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#privacy-name\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to hide your real name<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#privacy-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to protect your game data<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#privacy-profile\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Battle.net client settings<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#privacy-games\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to hide your list of games<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#privacy-profile-info\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to hide gaming profile information<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#privacy-notifications\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to turn off notifications<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#protect-your-accounts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Not only Battle.net<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"security\">Blizzard account security<\/h2>\n<p>Scammers don\u2019t care how hard you worked to reach level 60 in <em>WoW<\/em> or whether your name shows on the <em>Hearthstone<\/em> leaderboard; they\u2019ll happily steal any account and then sell it, use it to trade in-game currency, or do other prohibited stuff. To protect your account against hacking, you need to tinker with the security settings. To view them, sign in to your account in your browser and go to the Security settings.<\/p>\n<input type=\"hidden\" class=\"category_for_banner\" value=\"kis-gaming\">\n<h3 id=\"security-password\">How to change your Battle.net password<\/h3>\n<p>The first order of business is the password. It must be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/never-reuse-passwords-story\/24808\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">unique<\/a> \u2014 never use the same passphrase for more than one account. A good password is also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/strong-password-day\/25519\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">long and not obvious<\/a>. Forget about \u201cpa$$word\u201d or \u201cbatman2003\u201d \u2014 you need something more complex.<\/p>\n<p>To change your Battle.net password, go to <em>Security<\/em> and click <em>Update<\/em> in the <em>Password<\/em> section.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"security-question\">How to change the security question<\/h3>\n<p>Having a security question is a good way to protect your password from being reset. On the other hand, an attacker can easily turn the security question into a loophole: If they learn or guess the answer, they will gain access to your account \u2014 and it might not be all that difficult; users publish a lot of personal information in the public domain.<\/p>\n<p>If the answer can be gleaned from, say, your social network profiles, make sure to change the question to something a bit trickier:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Go to <em>Secret question<\/em> and click <em>Update<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Select an appropriate security question in the drop-down list;<\/li>\n<li>Enter the answer and click <em>Save<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So as not to forget the top-secret answer, use an encrypted note in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/password-manager?icid=en-za_kdailyplacehold_acq_ona_smm__onl_b2c_kasperskydaily_wpplaceholder____kpm___\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">password manager<\/a>. As the name suggests, this tool can also store and generate strong and reliable passwords.<\/p>\n<input type=\"hidden\" class=\"category_for_banner\" value=\"kpm-download\">\n<h3 id=\"security-authenticator\">How to set up two-factor authentication on Battle.net<\/h3>\n<p>Another handy setting for account protection is two-factor authentication. By default, when you try to log in to your account on a new device, Battle.net e-mails you a code. But cybercriminals often target e-mail because it can be a means to reset your passwords.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, use the Blizzard Authenticator app, which you can also configure to send codes by text message. If you opt to receive codes by text, then you\u2019ll be able to change your password, unblock your account, and sign in without access to Blizzard Authenticator.<\/p>\n<p>To enable two-factor authentication through the app or by text:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Install and open Blizzard Authenticator (<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/app\/blizzard-authenticator\/id306862897\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">iOS<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.blizzard.bma\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Android<\/a>);<\/li>\n<li>Tap <em>Set Up Authenticator<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Enter your Blizzard account username and password;<\/li>\n<li>Enter the security code sent to the e-mail address linked to your account;<\/li>\n<li>If you want to receive codes by text, on the page that opens, tap <em>Sign Up<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Enter your phone number and tap <em>Continue<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Enter the verification code sent by text;<\/li>\n<li>If you don\u2019t want to link your phone to your Battle.net account, instead of <em>Sign Up<\/em>, tap <em>No thanks<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Just in case, make a note of the serial number and recovery code \u2014 they will come in handy if you need to restore Blizzard Authenticator.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"security-logins\">How to ensure that only you have access to your account<\/h3>\n<p>Worried that you\u2019ve been hacked, or can\u2019t remember if you logged out on someone else\u2019s machine? Check your login history and sign out of your account on all devices except the one you\u2019re on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Go to <em>Security \u2192 Recent login activity<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Look at the login history, and if you spot unfamiliar devices in the list, click <em>Log out from all devices<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Right after that, <a href=\"#security-password\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">change your password<\/a> and <a href=\"#security-authenticator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">set up two-factor authentication<\/a> to keep attackers out of your account.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"security-phishing\">How to keep your Battle.net password from leaking<\/h3>\n<p>Scammers use every trick in the book to get hold of user passwords, so it\u2019s best not to rely solely on security settings.<\/p>\n<p>To prevent your account from being hijacked, be careful not to enter your credentials all over the place. Someone shared a link to a discounted game, but the page wants you to log in? Take a beat. Check the developer\u2019s website first. If the discount is real, there\u2019ll be information and a link to it right there.<\/p>\n<p>If you receive a message that appears to come from Blizzard asking you to run through a \u201csecurity check\u201d using a link in the message, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wow-phishing\/36752\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">it\u2019s most likely phishing<\/a>, so just ignore it. If you really want to make sure your Blizzard security is in order, go to your personal account either by manually entering the URL of the official website in your browser or through the Battle.net mobile app.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"4Assg5KmTL\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wow-phishing\/36752\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">How cybercriminals victimize WoW players<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"\u201cHow cybercriminals victimize WoW players\u201d \u2014 Daily - English - Global - blog.kaspersky.com\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wow-phishing\/36752\/embed\/#?secret=W94X60bGXl#?secret=4Assg5KmTL\" data-secret=\"4Assg5KmTL\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"privacy\">Privacy settings<\/h2>\n<p>You probably don\u2019t want teammates or raid cohorts to google your name and friend you on social networks. You can use privacy settings to avoid that.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"privacy-name\">How to hide your real name on Battle.net<\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019re not keen on strangers knowing your real name, turn off the Real ID feature:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Log in to your account in the browser;<\/li>\n<li>In the settings sidebar, select <em>Privacy<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Under <em>Account privacy<\/em>, click <em>Update<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Uncheck <em>Enable Real ID<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now other users will see only your BattleTag, the nickname you use for games and Blizzard forums.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"privacy-data\">How to protect your game data<\/h3>\n<p>By default, Blizzard shares data about your gaming activity with third-party developers. The company might even share your friends list and chat history. You can tell Blizzard not to share it, however:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Go to <em>Game data and profile privacy<\/em> and click <em>Update<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Uncheck <em>Share my game data with community developers<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Click <em>Save<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"privacy-profile\">Battle.net client settings<\/h2>\n<p>Not all privacy settings are available in the browser. After securing your account, hiding your name, and preventing Blizzard from sharing your personal info with third-party developers, take a peek under the hood of the Battle.net client\u2019s settings. Among the useful options you\u2019ll find there is one that lets you hide your list of purchased games (which might tempt scammers) and another that helps you get rid of annoying notifications.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"privacy-games\">How to hide your list of games from other users<\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019d rather not share details about the games you own, restrict information visibility:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Click your name in the Battle.net client, in the upper right corner of the screen;<\/li>\n<li>Select <em>View Profile<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Click the pencil icon next to <em>Games<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Uncheck the <em>Show on profile<\/em> option for each game you want to hide from the list;<\/li>\n<li>Click <em>Save<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can also use the Battle.net mobile app to change the settings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tap the profile icon in the lower right corner;<\/li>\n<li>Tap <em>Edit Profile<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Under <em>Games<\/em>, uncheck those that you don\u2019t want shown in your profile;<\/li>\n<li>Tap <em>Save<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"privacy-profile-info\">How to hide gaming profile information<\/h3>\n<p>To remain a mystery to everyone, completely hide your profile:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Click your name in the upper right corner of the Battle.net client;<\/li>\n<li>Select <em>View Profile<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Click the pencil icon next to <em>Profile Settings<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>In the <em>Profile Visibility<\/em> drop-down list, select <em>Only me<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Click <em>Save<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Or, in the Battle.net app for smartphone:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tap the profile icon in the lower right corner;<\/li>\n<li>Select <em>Edit Profile<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Swipe down to <em>Profile Privacy<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Under <em>Who can see my profile<\/em>, select <em>Only me<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, no one can see your profile information; only your BattleTag and avatars will remain visible.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"privacy-notifications\">How to turn off notifications<\/h3>\n<p>Pop-up messages about people joining a game or chat can be annoying. Fortunately, the Battle.net client allows you to turn off those and any other types of notifications:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Click the Blizzard logo in the upper left corner;<\/li>\n<li>In the drop-down list, click <em>Settings<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>In the sidebar, select <em>Sounds &amp; Notifications<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Uncheck <em>Enable Battle.net toasts<\/em> if you want to turn off all notifications;<\/li>\n<li>Set the associated option in the <em>Event<\/em> section to stop receiving notifications about certain events, for example, a friend coming online;<\/li>\n<li>Click <em>Done<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To get rid of unwanted notifications in the mobile app:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tap the profile icon in the lower right corner;<\/li>\n<li>Tap the gear icon in the upper right corner;<\/li>\n<li>Select <em>Notifications<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>Disable events you\u2019re not interested in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"protect-your-accounts\">Beyond Battle.net<\/h2>\n<p>Congratulations, your Battle.net account settings are now in order. But what about your other accounts? You don\u2019t want to neglect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/steam-privacy-security\/33981\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Steam<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/twitch-privacy-security\/34519\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Twitch<\/a>, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n<input type=\"hidden\" class=\"category_for_banner\" value=\"kis-gaming\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A complete guide to security and privacy settings for your Battle.net account.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2484,"featured_media":28186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1853,1218,2662,3372,647,187,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-28185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tips","8":"tag-tips","9":"tag-2fa","10":"tag-battle-net","11":"tag-blizzard","12":"tag-gamers","13":"tag-passwords","14":"tag-settings"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"en-za","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/28185\/"},{"hreflang":"en-in","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/22055\/"},{"hreflang":"en-ae","url":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/17533\/"},{"hreflang":"en-us","url":"https:\/\/usa.kaspersky.com\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/23578\/"},{"hreflang":"en-gb","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/21733\/"},{"hreflang":"es-mx","url":"https:\/\/latam.kaspersky.com\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/20431\/"},{"hreflang":"es","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.es\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/24166\/"},{"hreflang":"it","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.it\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/23247\/"},{"hreflang":"ru","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.ru\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/29352\/"},{"hreflang":"tr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.tr\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/9013\/"},{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/37490\/"},{"hreflang":"fr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.fr\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/15889\/"},{"hreflang":"pt-br","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.br\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/16346\/"},{"hreflang":"pl","url":"https:\/\/plblog.kaspersky.com\/battlenet-privacy-security\/14123\/"},{"hreflang":"de","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.de\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/25687\/"},{"hreflang":"ja","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.co.jp\/battlenet-privacy-security\/29530\/"},{"hreflang":"nl","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.nl\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/26304\/"},{"hreflang":"ru-kz","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.kz\/battlenet-privacy-security\/23036\/"},{"hreflang":"en-au","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/battlenet-privacy-security\/28363\/"}],"acf":[],"banners":"","maintag":{"url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/tag\/gamers\/","name":"gamers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2484"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}