Valve recently announced a new Steam feature called Steam Guard, that was created to give users a much greater account security. Steam Guard allows users to link their steam accounts to a specific PC and by doing so attemtepts to modify or change account settings by any other PC would not be possible unless the user approved from their allowed PC.
Steam Guard works along side Intel’s upcoming Indentity Procection Technology (IPT), an encrypted, hardware-based feature available with the new 2nd generation Intel CoreT and Intel CoreT vProT processors. IPT generates a new numerical password every 30 seconds, integrating into the processor functionality that previously required a separate card or key fob. With this new security Steam Guard will also automatically notify users if any other PC tries to access their account from a computer not authorized on their account. Steam Guard is available to third parties to incorporate into their own applications through Steamworks.
“Account phishing and hijacking are our #1 support issues,” said Gabe Newell, President of Valve. “With Intel’s IPT and Steam Guard, we’ve taken a big step towards giving customers the account security they need as they purchase more and more digital goods.”
“We expect to see widespread adoption of hardware-based security like Intel IPT by other service providers,” said Doug Lombardi, Valve’s Vice President of Marketing. “If as a customer you are buying movies, music, games, or digital goods, you want to know that they are more secure than your physical goods.”
Gabe Newell believes so much in this system that in a press conference about it he gave out his password so users could try and access his account freely.
