Anti-Hacking Tips
1. Never visit suspicious websites or use unfamiliar links that you may be given by other players. Many hackers create websites which upload keyloggers and trojans to your computer when you visit them. A keylogger will record everything you type and send the information to the hacker. It's a great way to lose your acc# and password. Some websites may even contain fake login pages in order to steal your account. Always remember not to login with your acc# and password at any page other than the official one located at http://www.tibia.com/. If you're not sure that a certain link is safe, just avoid it. If you come across a hack link, report it here: http://[link deleted due to change in Tibia rules]/. They will take care of it if necessary.
2. Do not give out your acc# or password to ANYONE for ANY reason. Sharing accounts is also an excellent way to lose everything. If you do decide to give out the info, prepare to replace everything you've aqquired in Tibia. Experince, items, everything. Gamemasters, counsellors and members of the Cipsoft team will NEVER ask for your acc# and/or password. Anyone who asks should be reported and then ignored immediately. Account sharing is also against the rules. In the case that someone asks you for your acc# and password to purchase you a premium account, be sure that they are trying to scam you. Do not be fooled into thinking otherwise, no matter what that person may say to you. If you truly want a premium account on Tibia, save your money and earn one.
3. Change you password on a regular basis. Choose a completely different password each time, don't just change one or two characters. When selecting a password, be sure to choose something that has no real life significance to you. If you happen to slip out personal info about yourself to anyone, such as location or name, then you don't want your password to be something related. Choose passwords with non-sensical letter and number combinations as well. Do ANYTHING you can to make your password obscure and secret. If you are a premium account holder, be sure to personalize your account and keep the recovery key you recieve in a place where you can easily find it. Do NOT keep it written anywhere in your computer. A piece of paper in your wallet or purse will do just fine.
4. Refrain from downloading anything that has to do with Tibia, unless it comes from the official Tibia website. Macro programs, cheats and anything promising free items and skills are simply there to steal your account. Keyloggers can be found in EVERY cheat tool, despite what they may say. Using any outside program that interferes with the Tibia client is also against the rules and will result in a lengthy banishment.
5. Regularly scan your computer for keyloggers and trojans. Once every two days or so should do the trick, and you should also be sure to scan whenever you visit a new or unfamiliar website, should you choose to do so. There are various programs you may use to help safeguard your Tibia account, as well as the security of your computer. A list of recommended programs, including firewalls, anti-virus software, and spyhunters will be listed further down on this thread. It's also recommended to use several programs in conjunction with each other to tie up loose ends. Some things might get by one scanner, but get picked up by the next.
6. Keep a good firewall running AT ALL TIMES. A good firewall will prevent trash from getting into your computer. Keep it updated and keep it running whenever you connect to the internet.
7. Always remember to update any and all of the security programs that you're using. If they're not up to date, they're not going to work. Most security software will have an update option right there on the program itself and will tell you if there's a new update available.
8. Exercise catution when playing at LAN houses or Cyber Cafés. You are in charge of the computer that you access your account from and it's time-consuming to check for cheat software and whatnot everytime you play. Even if it's not your computer, YOU and ONLY YOU are in charge of using a cheat free computer. You risk hacking and banishments when playing from a public terminal. The GMs and counsellors will tell you the same.
9. File-sharing programs such as Kazaa and WinMX (not sure if they're even around anymore) often carry along little backdoor programs that can spy on you. When you DL a file you never really know what you're going to get. Now, although the majority of the garbage you're getting is harmless and normally reserved for marketing and things along that line, a few can really do some harm. Napster and Messanger Programs such as MSN and Yahoo Kazaa will also have loopholes which will allow hackers spy on you. Exercise caution when using them. Of course I can't imagine that music files, videos, etc. will contain Tibia hacks, but it's still nice to keep safe.
10. If you currently use a cheat program of any kind, remove it immediately and re-install your entire Tibia client. I've been advised that you may save your maps files in this case. If you have had trouble with hacking in the past, re-install your entire Tibia client to prevent future problems.
11. Use a separate e-mail account for registering to play Tibia and keep that e-mail address private. Don't give it out to anyone. Additionally, be sure to use a secure and trusted e-mail service. A good example of a poor choice would be the e-mail service offered on Reebow's site. If you sign up there you may as well just start all over again, seeing as how you're going to be hacked sooner or later. Many people do not trust Hotmail either, so just use your best discretion.
12. Keep a good anti-virus running at all times. If a trojan sneaks into your computer, a good anti-virus will detect it, making it easy for you to get rid of.If you don't believe me, just check out the security tips that CipSoft has provided at the following link: http://www.tibia.com/guide/?subtopic=security
Tips to Stay Safe
1. Do not put anyone on your house list. There's always the chance that your "guests" could rob you blind, leaving you with nothing. It's not against the rules either, so there's nothing that you can do about it. Invite others at your own risk.
2. Parcel trades, showing your equipment on the ground and giving out loans are good ways of losing your hard-earned goods. If you do any of the above, always be prepared to lose your end. Anything left on the ground is considered fair game, even lootbags, so always try to keep things in your inventory to avoid theft.
3. Monitor the number of items in your depot at ALL times. If it goes over the limit of 1000 items, then it will "overflow" leaving various items out in the open for others to take.
Insight From Other Members of the Tibian Community
From Duvel of Hiberna:If you think that there's a keylogger or something like that in your computer, here are some security tips:
1: Check the task list by press ctrl+alt+del in windows. Examine all the tasks running, if you unsure of a task look it up on a search engine.
2: Use the system configuration utility to determine which task are loaded at start-up (type "msconfig" in the run box to start).
3: Run your antivirus checker, it's possible this will pick up the Keylogger on your system.
4: Scan your hard disk for the most recent files stored. Look at the contents of any files continually updating (these might be logs).
5: Download a specific keylogger/spyware detector program (F.I. Spybot S&D), and see if it detects anything.
From Zarina Serafina of Premia:
The best way to make a password that is easy to remember but unguessable is to take a sentence, for example "I rule all of Tibia but live on Rook", and take the first letter of every word "iraotblor" then add the last two numbers of your birthday say 80. Just add the caps for "I Tibia and Rook". Then you have a secure password no one would ever guess and no program will figure out: IraoTbloR80You can say the sentence to yourself as you type the password and thus never forget it but it's still an insanely hard pass. Oh, and if it has personal info in it, still no one will guess.
From Zoredache of Premia:
Another technique that would help a lot is to stop using internet explorer to browse the web. Install Mozilla Firefox set it as default, delete all your IE icons and in IE under the internet options set all zones to the highest security level. As I write this post there are 24 (or more) known security vulnerabilites in Internet explorer a couple of which could possibily be used to install a keyloger or other malware onto your system.Oh and lastly if you do get a keylogger any security professional will tell you that the ONLY acceptable removal method is to backup, format, and reinstall. If a hacker got a keylogger/trojan on your system he could have modified anything including your antivirus software or your operating system configuration. If a system was compromized you can never be 100% sure your cleaning software was able to restore all the damage the malware did.
Scams: Know them to avoid them
1. The "fast-trade" scam:
This scam is quite simple really, someone offers to sell you something at an excellent price, something as amazing as a Dragon Scale Mail for 3k, but before you trade, this player will tell you that there is something wrong with his computer, and that you must click accept really fast or the trade will not work. When the trade window first comes up you will see the Dragon Scale Mail, but when you click accept the other player will cancel the trade, likely claiming that it wouldn't work. He/she will repeat this several times, each time using the correct item, but cancelling the trade in the end. Finally, assuming your guard is down, they put up a useless item instead, and click accept. If you're still clicking accept really fast as you did before, you lose your trading item (gold, runes, etc.) and are rewarded with something such as a shiny new pair of leather boots.Therefore whenever you trade with someone, stranger or otherwise, always be sure to check and see that the trade is exactly what you want before accepting. If someone tells you that they're computer is buggy and you must click accept really fast, just tell them the following:"If you're having problems with your computer or the Tibia client, perhaps you should be focusing on fixing the problem or reporting it to the CipSoft team as a bug instead of trying to make quick trades with others on Tibia."Sometimes a player will advertise an item such as a Giant Sword, but will try and use a Two-handed Sword, which looks quite similar, and try to scam you that way. Another common deception is with a Bright Sword and a Katana. Once again, ALWAYS look at the items to make sure it is the correct one.
2. The e-mail attachment:
One of the reasons I say not to give out your Tibia e-mail address is because you might start recieving e-mails with various attachments. I've recieved over a dozen e-mails to date with attachments that contained viruses and keyloggers. The ONLY time you will ever recieve a Tibia related e-mail is when you sign up for the very first time and you have your password sent. Actually, that's the only time you should have to recieve one...any others will likely be to recieve a new password after you've been hacked. Hopefully by reading this you can avoid all of that mess.
3. The fake login page:
As mentioned above, the only place you should ever enter your Tibia acc# and password is at the official Tibia website located at http://www.tibia.com/. If you enter it anywhere else you're going to lose your account, plain and simple.
4. The "over/undercharged" scam:
When you buy runes from another player that you do not fully trust, always be sure to check that the number of charges on each rune is correct. It's quite possible that you could be sold a BP of HMM containing runes with only a single charge on each rather than the five that new runes would contain. True, checking can be tedious and time-consuming, but do you want to pay 800 gp for 20 shots of HMM?
5. The "free premmy plx" scam:
It seems to be common nowadays to find players offering to purchase premium accounts for other players. Oftentimes a person will advertise that they will purchase a premium account for you and all you have to pay is a certain amount of Tibian items and/or gold. In short, DO NOT trust them! In order to purchase you a premium account they will need some of your account information, and that is something that you MUST keep to yourself at ALL times. In the case that this happens, simply ignore the person and move on. You're better off ordering your own premium account anyways.
6. The "we're duping you" scam:
Certain players have been wandering around telling others about ways to duplicate items in Tibia. Some players will ask you for your acc# and password so that they can duplicate all of your items, and then promptly take your account from you. In one instance, a player was told to type a prompt into DOS, resulting in the deletion of various important files on that player's computer. There's also the old "Crtl+Q" scam, in which they tell you about duplicating tricks, as mentioned above, and tell you to put your items on top of a depot box and to press Ctrl+Q. What this does is log you out, leaving your valuables out in the open for anyone to take. And of course the old classic where a player is told to put their stuff on the floor, hold down the Crtl key and type "multiply". This logs you out when you've typed the letter "l" and then your stuff gets taken from you. Gotta watch out for that one as well.Having said that, be assured that there are NO ways to duplicate items in Tibia. There may have been ways long ago in the past, but those have been taken care of by the CipSoft team and are no longer possible. If a player tells you that he can duplicate items, simply ignore that player and report it using Crtl+R. If you find yourself in a situation where you've come across a bug that truly allows you to duplicate items, report this bug to CipSoft immediately! You can do this by sending an e-mail to cip@tibia.com and putting "Bug Report" in the subject line. When doing this, be sure to include a very detailed report of the bug. A second way to report is to tell a tutor, such as myself. Either go to the help channel in-game and ask for a tutor so that you may explain it to them, or send a private message to a tutor that you know is online. Explain the bug to them and they will report it using the bug report interface in-game.It's been said that rewards have been given, in the past, to those who have reported such serious bugs to CipSoft. Therefore, rest assured that your honesty and effort will not be forgotten.
7. The "mana-fluid into wine" scam:
Since wine and mana fluids are both the same color, you must be sure to check that one is not the other. Imagine what would happen in the middle of a hunt when you drank a flask of wine rather than a mana fluid. Never just assume that what someone tells you is mana fluid actually is a mana fluid. Use the "look" function and make sure.
8. The "miracle potion" scam:
If you've ever been offered a green potion of life fluid on Rookgaard you know what this one is all about. As with the previous listed scam, always use the "look" function before drinking something. Drinking slime on Rookgaard usually means a swift death. Watch out for players that offer this to you, since they're going to be after the items and gold you drop upon death.
Program Recommendations
Anti-viruses
McAfee AVG (personal pick)
Trend PC-Cillin
Norton Anti-Virus
Avast Anti-Virus (personal pick)
Symantec Anti-Virus [Added 03/06/06]
Firewalls
McAfee
Zonealarm (personal pick)
Norton Internet Security
SygateBlackICE Firewall
Sitar Pro [Added 03/06/06]
Spyhunters
Adaware (personal pick)
SpyHunter
Spybot S&D
Pest Patrol (personal pick)
SpySweeper
Cleanup Programs
Clean Disk
Deep Freeze
System Mechanic 4
ProAdditional Notes:
The "cleanup" programs listed are more for keeping your computer running smoothly, which may prevent lag.
Deep Freeze is security software that protects and restores your software settings after simply restarting your computer. Commonly used in LAN houses and schools. Can also be classified under "firewalls" since it offers additional protection.
My personal picks are simply based on experience and should NOT by any means be seen as a guarantee that they are the best of the best. They are simply based on my opinions.
A few of these programs are being recommended based on the advice of my friends and family. I will continue testing things as time goes on.
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