Notes

2FA for your Own Minecraft Server

In October I had the pleasure of heading across town to GamesBeat 2015, a brilliant conference organized by VentureBeat and rated as one of the 'best blogs on the internet by The New York Times. VentureBeat is a top source of technology innovation news, events, research and analysis, and their GamesBeat conference, which is now in its seventh year, is a great example of how they focus on the latest trends in technology in the gaming industry.



So when Authy was invited to participate in GamesBeat 2015 we were over the moon. It's rare that business and pleasure be so easily combined. Authy helps online brands protect their data and protect customers by making it easy to include two-factor authentication in their services. We're also gamers by nature, so when a gaming platform ramps their security level, we're more apt to initiate gameplay.



Gamers Losing Trust?



Hackers are popular with gamers and game developers, thanks to the growth of virtual economies on gaming sites. Gaming profiles are selling for thousands of dollars on the black market. Cyber criminals are most interested in games that have multiple players and the $11billion annual revenues they generate. BLASTER MUSIC The currencies in multi-player games, like World of Warcraft gold, can be stolen, exchanged, and easily cashed in for real cash, often in different countries, with no game developers having a clue. This kind of violation can be difficult to rectify even if a business can restore stolen assets and/or pursue the perpetrators. The gamer loses trust in the game. Even if a brand new or more secure version is released, it's not easy to restore confidence.



But it doesn't have to be that way.



As people become increasingly frustrated by endless data breaches they're demanding more responsible management from the organizations that hold their data. While we all are aware that passwords don't provide sufficient security anymore, we also recognize that using a secondary factor to verify the identity of a user can protect your customers and your business from data loss, fraud and malicious attacks. Two-factor authentication is an excellent choice, particularly for online games with multiple players that allow players to accumulate data and trade.



Security With Just 10 Lines Of Code



It's not difficult to integrate two-factor authentication. That's basically the gist of my presentation at GamesBeat 2015. Integrating Authy two-factor authentication is easy, reliable and powerful. Two-factor authentication can be implemented in a matter of 10 lines of code



Verify players during registration Log-in to protect high-value transactions and game advancements. You can also secure any in-game activity.



Yes. Authy for Minecraft.



To illustrate this idea, I created two-factor authentication in Minecraft to demonstrate:



- SMS or text-to voice at log-in with Authy OneCode - One Time Passcode generation as player validation with Authy SoftToken. For the most secure, minimally intrusive user experience, you can send a push notification with Authy One Touch, where all users have to do is swipe their smartphone's screen to gain access to in-game purchases or any action that might require an additional level of security.



Hackers are no longer just after end-user data. They're targeting entire communities of players and some are even looking to destroy entire systems. Two-factor authentication makes gaming developers more secure. Developer account information will also be protected. Brands will help build trust and confidence in the player community.



Integrations between applications can be cumbersome for developers. With Authy we've put in a lot of effort to ensure it's simple to use for any developer. The Authy REST API handles the difficult details like key management and secure data structuring. Additionally, you get two end-points, as well as pre-built libraries that provide security to your login flow using the language you choose: PHP, Ruby Python, Java, NodeJS, and more.



If You're a Developer:



Head to https://www.authy.com/developers/ to learn more. You can obtain a free API Key, try it out, and then show us how you have integrated Authy #2FA.


Here's my website: https://blastermusic.net/