Dev Blog: An Update On Security – The Fight Against Bots & RMT

If you’d like to discuss this dev blog, or you can feel free to do so in the comments thread on the EVE Online forums.

Back in February we released an initial set of numbers for 2018 that reported on activity against those using client automation (botting) and engaging in Real Money Trading (RMT) during January.

We’re acutely aware that this is a key issue in the eyes of our community, and we want to make sure that you’re all aware of the steps that we’re taking to curb this kind of behavior in EVE Online.

While there was a bit of a shift in focus away from RMT and Botting for a while, as we looked at account hacking and security in more detail, the war against those who choose to abuse New Eden in this manner continues.

Here’s a few raw numbers from the ongoing fight to keep you guys updated:

• 8771 account bans for RMT related activities since February
• 4250 account bans for botting related activities since February
• 5377 account bans for account hacking since February

Additional Security

On top of the ongoing action against those who choose to breach the EULA in these ways, we’ve also been looking at ways to further strengthen account security.

In the time between our last update and now, we’ve implemented a password checking system based on the known compromised passwords list from @haveibeenpwned, which should hopefully assist pilots in keeping their accounts more secure.

This system will alert you when you log in if you're using a password that's commonly used, or has been identified as risky due to data breaches on various websites in the past. You can read more about Have I Been Pwned here.

What Can You Do To Help?

Keep the RMT and botting reports coming.

While we don’t send individual responses to every report, they’re all taken seriously and are investigated in detail to see if they’re credible. Multiple reports from various different sources are also incredibly valuable for cross referencing behavior and allowing us to nail these guys faster.

The help of the community is incredibly important.

In addition to assisting us in the ongoing war against bots and RMT, you can also help keep your account more secure by enabling two factor authentication (2FA).

This is a huge boost to account security and helps prevent any unauthorized access to your account by those who might want to relieve you of your hard-earned ISK and assets.

You can read more about how to enable 2FA in this article in the EVE Online Help Center.

We’re continuing to work on more inventive and creative ways to rain unholy hell down on those who choose to engage in these kinds of behaviours, and fully understand the community’s concerns around the need for more action on this front.