In relation to the recent article surrounding developments in the introduction of multi-factor authentication into competitive video games, this article explores and explains the origins of multi-factor authentication and where you might see it in your everyday routine.
Two-factor authentication was introduced in the 90s by the internet service provider AT&T, and was initially used for authorising transactions through two-way pagers. In 1998, AT&T patented two-factor authentication.
Following the increasing development of technology and communication and the introduction of the smartphone in the early 2000s, 2 factor authentication underwent a shift towards SMS and One-Time Passwords via email addresses as a method of authorisation. This is so that even if the password to an account is breached, the second authenticator acts as a second layer of defence to prevent intruders from successfully logging in.
At this point, 2-factor authentication is becoming mainstream, reliable and convenient. Most commonly being used in authorising logins to accounts that need to be more secure, such as Microsoft accounts, school/business accounts, OneDrive, banking apps, social media, email accounts and online games. These factors were generally either a question the user knows the answer to (What was your first job?), a password, an authenticator app, or biometrics like a fingerprint or face ID. Most commonly used in offices and schools to ensure the organisations system remains secure for its users.
As of the end of 2016, 2-factor authentication had been introduced to most gaming companies, offering an extra layer of security to accounts. “As of the end of 2016, almost every single one of the major gaming services allows you to turn on this extra layer of security: Blizzard Entertainment’s Battle.net, GOG.com, Humble Bundle, Electronic Arts’ Origin, Sony’s PlayStation Network, Valve’s Steam, Ubisoft’s Uplay and Microsoft’s Xbox Live.”
Video games are now using 2 factor authentication to ensure players’ accounts are secure, and as a method of deterring players from breaching game-play integrity. In many competitive games, individuals create several alternate accounts to reset their ranks and hidden skill levels, to play against easier, newer players and in turn ruin gameplay for a large portion of the player base.
Gaming communities have requested methods like 2 factor authentication and multi-factor authentication to be introduced into the games’ login process to prevent several accounts from being owned by one person.
One popular example is Fortnite, which now requires users to enable 2 factor authentication in order to participate in competitive features of the game and to gain certain in-game rewards. Furthermore, Counter-Strike 2, VALORANT and League of Legends use multi-factor authentication to reduce account theft, cheating and smurfing.
One result of individuals owning several accounts is an increase in bots in online multiplayer games. Some games take players through websites such that include reCAPTCHA tests to check that the person logging in is not a bot.
An article from E World in April of last year explains: “Most US gamers share one or more of these top concerns with bots in multiplayer games:
- Bots make it hard for casual gamers to enjoy playing
- Bots put real human players at a disadvantage
- Bots can be used to gain unfair gameplay advantages
- Bots can be used to artificially inflate player counts in lobbies
- Bots can manipulate an in-game economy
- Bots can unfairly obtain loot or rare drops”
This is measurable and containable through 2-factor authentication because it requires checks through emails and phone numbers, which generally people only have one of (more specifically only one phone number as email addresses have become a less reliable form of prevention due to people having and using several email addresses for different purposes). If an account requires a phone number to be created, then it becomes harder for individuals with one phone number to create more than one account under one name at a time. This discourages rank manipulation, which is commonly known amongst the gaming community as ‘smurfing’.
More recently, video games have introduced Multi-Factor authentication to their login processes, which may require individuals to provide an email, password and a phone number alongside a six-digit code that refreshes every 30 seconds and is linked to specific devices rather than accounts to provide more security when logging into an account as an extra layer of protection.
Multi-factor authentication has, however, received its fair share of backlash from the gaming community despite its esteemed reputation for security. One reddit user explaining that they, “don’t care if it’s to solve a problem: why should I be punished because THEY can’t solve THEIR problem [smurfing]? I didn’t create the problem, I didn’t contribute to it, why should I be the one to solve it??”
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