Are scam artists targeting online games resulting in tighter security protocols? According to the article, the increased popularity in MMOGs such as World of Warcraft have resulted in an exponential increase in crime through theft of personal data via these games. Whether it is an in-game scam to convince someone to giving up account details or a plain brute force theft, both in-game goods and real-life resources like credit card numbers are being lifted using these games as a medium, whether the target is the person themselves or the company hosting the game. Tt's resulted in companies looking specifically to halt it:
Securing the online game site, K2 Network Inc. has added a security platform from NetContinuum to protect the more than 7 million registered gamers that play on the site against virtual and real-world ID theft, an executive said Friday. K2 Network senior director of infrastructure and engineering David S. Lee said people will pay between $2,000 and $8,000 for an account because of the money and time put into developing the characters in the game. "Online gamers typically stick with one game from eight months to three years, putting money into characters and accessories," Lee said. "About 60 to 70 percent of game publishers and hosting sites suffer from hacking every day."
With losses estimated to be approaching $1 Million a year, the traditional security methods used weren't enough. Firewalls and standard protocols were failing. In this case, the attention has been turned to a layer-7 firewall, meaning it has a much thorough level of checking to make its decision on what to do with a packet.
If you are interested in online security, it's a good read.