Hacking: A Never Stopped Issue

Hacking is a recurrent issue, and has been so, since the invention of the Internet. It is a crime which significantly affects the virtual economy.
As we presented in the prezi introduction slides, the secondary market is worth $3 billion and the goods in this market are majorly virtual currency. However, the World Bank Report lately claims that 20% of virtual game currency sold is hacked.(Lehdonvirta) Considering the total amount of this market, this problem is horrible.

One of my friend's account in Diablo III got hacked this summer. He lost all the golds and gears in his account and got banned for the suspicious actions (transactions of large amount of golds and gears to other suspended account) for three days. These gears were worth more than two hundred dollars, not to mention the time he spent to get them. He was so angry and told me that he would not play Diablo III anymore, so this is a loss for the gaming company as well as for him.

The hacking problem today includes accounts, charters being hacked and the theft of gold, gears or other virtual properties. The rising problem withing hacking relates to the payment method connecting the real economy and virtual economy. People need to use online services to sell or purchase the virtual goods with real money and hackers are now aiming at these online payment services. PayPal accounts have been reported as having been hacked and involved in money laundering.The hacking problem in virtual economy today also relates to some foreign affairs. Reports show that the North Korea government set up an army to raise fund through hacking in games. This problem has already drawn attention from the government but everyone who partakes in virtual economy need to be informed of this problem and its significance.

Hereby we present some great articles about the hacking issue in the virtual world. It should be recognized that the hacking action does not only hurt the properties, but also people's feeling about those games. The loss of  goods sometimes makes people leave the game they once enjoyed playing.

Diablo III Hacks Continue, Users Report PayPal Accounts Being Used For Money Laundering

By Yannick Lejacq

This article talks about the crimes happening in the game Diablo III. Hacking has completely ruined the economy of this game. The worth of gold coinshas dropped significantly. Also, as Blizzard introduced PayPal into D3's real auction house, users now report their PayPal accounts being used for money laundering.
"...Now, reports have begun to surface of an even more insidious form of hacking than users simply losing their virtual items. An article posted Monday on CNET details writer Joseph Hanlon's revelation that his PayPal account had been hijacked by Diablo III users. But they weren't just using his account to buy themselves virtual gold to get better loot in the game. 'I wasn't talking to lovers of the game who had been fleeced of the gold they had worked so hard to accumulate, Hanlon writes. Rather, "these guys were scammers too, part of a network of people exploiting the game to earn money for nothing.'..."Read more

Seoul Warns of Latest North Korean Threat: An Army of Online Gaming Hackers

By Choe Sang-hun

An artwork of Dungeon and Fighter.

This is an article addressing the hacking army in North Korea. It suggests that the hacking crimes today are even organized by some regimes.
"Despite its decrepit economy, North Korea is believed to train an army of computer programmers and hackers. The police in Seoul said Thursday that four South Koreans and a Korean-Chinese had been arrested on charges of drawing on that army to organize a hacking squad of 30 young video gaming experts.Working from Northern China, the police said, the squad created software that breached the servers for such popular South Korean online gaming sites as 'Lineage' and 'Dungeon and Fighter.' The breach allowed round-the-clock play by “factories” of dozens of unmanned computers."Read more