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Under the Surface of Azeroth:
A Network Baseline and Security Analysis
of Blizzard's World of Warcraft
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This analysis is organized into three sections. The first will provide an overview of World of Warcraft's operation and insight into the software interactions with the network. The second section will provide much more detail on the network operation and show details of bandwidth utilizations, protocol efficiency information, and describe other factors that affect traffic flows and response times. The final section discusses security concerns, steps through World of Warcraft's authentication process, and describes exactly what information is transmitted "in the clear" and what information is obfuscated during normal network communication.
This analysis focuses on understanding the operation of a normally installed version of World of Warcraft and how that installation affects the network and the security of the end user environment. Like many enterprise environments, today's home networks simultaneously provide services such as normal Internet browsing, Voice over IP, and downloadable video content. This analysis will describe the impact on those services and show how World of Warcraft traffic can be managed alongside other important network traffic flows.
What this Analysis is Not
This analysis is not a description of the internals of Blizzard's World of Warcraft client or a step-by-step guide for obtaining an unfair advantage over the system or other players. Blizzard has integrated internal security techniques in their software to identify and prohibit unfair gameplay, but the analysis of that system is well beyond the scope of this study. The fun of any game is the personal achievement and entertainment received while playing, not the manipulation of the system at the expense of other players. If you're looking for information on a cheap hack or the identification of exploits, you won't find it here.
We also won't be able to include every possible World of Warcraft operational scenario. Part of Blizzard's success with World of Warcraft has included the integration of a development interface, allowing the end user to extend the capabilities of the user interface, communication system, auction house, and many other in-game services. Although many of these add-ons have little to no affect on the communication and operation of World of Warcraft, there's no practical way to individually test and report on the hundreds of downloadable modifications.
