I posted a question in the customer support regarding them and this is the response I got.
Physical authenticators are no longer manufactured. This was disappointing to say the least. They could at least support yubikey or something. I prefer an authenticator that is not connected to the internet and cannot be hacked like a phone.
use your cell phone
ez clap
The last sentence of my post addresses that.
your authenticator can’t be hacked in the way you’re thinking.
unless you literally tell somebody the code within the one minute the 2FA sync gives you code there’s no other way it can get “hacked”
I prefer physical authentication, Blizz. If you won’t make the physical authenticators anymore, then please support something like yubikey.
Yeah general discussion probably not the best place to ask for this.
I feel for you if you prefer the physical authenticator, but this is something blizz had the stats for.
I guess not enough people were using the physical version for them to justify continuing to manufacture them.
I would say try the tech support forums but prolly not worth the time. This isnt something ambiguous, they knew exactly how many ppl were using them and decided to discontinue it.
They continue to make this game for ancient computers though but it is too hard to make it for security.
I guess time to just take mine off and they can fix my account if I get hacked.
Pretty much, I mean im sure they factored in dealing with a few more tickets when deciding to discontinue the physical authenticators.
And obviously they could continue to make them if they wanted to, but saw not enough ppl were using them for it to be worth.
Edit: to be fair there are prolly a lot more ppl with older computers than there are ppl without smartphones.
I know TONS of ppl with old / crap PCs i actually dont know anyone irl that doesnt have a smart phone or a tablet. My 80 year old grandma has a tablet lol
I am not sure not enough people were using them, I think it was a case of we will push these people into using the others instead and save ourselves some money.
This was already brought up in another thread:
Probably also true, im sure they factored in how many ppl will switch to phone authenticators vs how many will just stop using it.
You arent wrong, its 100% about saving money, i doubt even blizz would bother to deny that.
Use an old cell phone that doesn’t have a SIM card. Download the Blizzard authenticator app using wi-fi and sync it with Blizzard’s server. Then go airplane mode (forever) on the phone.
You won’t get auto-authenticated but will have to enter the 8-digit code when you login just like with the physical authenticator. Basically, your SIM-less, airplane mode phone becomes a physical authenticator.
No current and up to date password and security system can be hacked. You ever wonder why we can no longer retrieve our passwords, but only reset them? It’s because the information you just sent through is secured using encryption keys and never actually stored anywhere.
So if someone was to hack in and find the password code they than need the key to decrypt it, and if you use the generator, it makes another key that is than sent to Blizzard and if the keys match, you get in. Those keys are changed every minute, so unless you can hack into their system, find the place the keys are stored, figure out how to decrypt the keys without the authenticator, you would need to find the key and decrypt it once a minute.
Possible, but highly unlikely someone is going to go through all that hassle just for one persons account.
Funny you say that, because here in Australia it probably cost less to buy the cheapest phone than it does to get an authenticator made.
You can use a tablet too not just phones 
I use my old 4th generation iPod for my authenticator. Sometimes it takes a bit if the battery is dead for it to get enough of a charge to turn on so I can use it, but i try to keep it and the power cord handy just in case I need it.
What counts as ancient?
Mate, if someone’s hacking your phone for your WoW login, I kinda feel like they need it more than you.
Sorry I didn’t see that other thread. I don’t routinely go and scour the forums to make sure that somebody didn’t already mention what I want to discuss. I was just surprised that this wasn’t announced a bit louder. As in, somewhere official.
Doesn’t really change my last point though. I would like to see Blizzard officially support U2F/FIDO2.
The switch while a surprise we orked well for me i hadnt played in years so my physical one was desd and instead of having to wait on a new one then set it up i just did so on my phone and with how apps move these days it even set itself up on my new phone.