One of the most exciting features of Valve's Steam game-buying and distribution service is its ability to give you access to all your games on any PC. But this also has the potential to create problems, particularly if you have it installed on computers that are easily accessible by others. Valve has announced a new way of dealing with this: Steam Guard.
This new feature in both Steam and the Steamworks development suite links account management to only one PC. Any attempts on another system to modify account settings will require the registered user's approval. In addition, users will be notified if any PCs other than the authorized "control" system tries to log into their account or modify its settings.
Steam Guard works by using a feature from Intel called Identity Protection Technology (IPT), which is hardware-based encryption included in Intel's new second-generation Core (aka "Sandy Bridge") and Core vPro processors. IPT generates a new numerical password every 30 seconds that only Steam Guard can know, thus ensuring the proper computer is being used to access the Steam account.
This also means—for now, at least—that computers running AMD processors will not be able to take advantage of Steam Guard security.
Valve President Gabe Newell acknowledged in a statement that account phishing and hijacking are Valve's top support issues, and that Steam Guard represents "a big step towards giving customers the account security they need as they purchase more and more digital goods."
Doug Lombardi, Valve's vice president of marketing, added, "We expect to see widespread adoption of hardware-based security like Intel IPT by other service providers. 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."
For more information, visit Intel's Web site or store.steampowered.com.