[sldev] [Upcoming Changes] Website Viewer Authentication

[Kitty]

I think I'm missing something obvious because I don't see how it improves
security at all :o. (I did read the wiki but I still don't see it)

Right now I'm always logged in to the site (to check transactions,
participate on the forums, check "Online Friend", etc) and manually type in
my password each time I use the viewer.

So aside from getting tricked into downloading and running a malicious
viewer and manually supplying it my password (I just don't see that as a
realistic possibility; and if you do manage to trick a user into running
local code, nothing will protect them), the worst that could happen is that
my persistant session gets hijacked. That would mean that someone can: check
my transaction history, put in support tickets as me, charge my CC to
increase my US$ credit, post on the forums as me, or in short only perform
innocent tasks. They can't: log on in-world, transfer L$, or get to my
inventory, or withdraw US$ funds. At the very worst they might learn enough
information to pass the security questions on the reset password page (but
that still applies in the new situation too).

Moving authentication from the viewer to the site means that if someone
hijacks my session they can now log on in-world as me and steal my L$ and
mess with my inventory which would mean that I have to always log out of the
site to close the session, effectively loosing the functionality of the site
or end up typing in my password dozens of times more than I currently do,
largely increasing the chance of it getting intercepted.

That would seem to leave me more vulnerable as opposed to being safer? What
am I missing? *confuzzled*