Online gaming has become one of the most popular and most common activities for people of all ages. Unfortunately, the bigger the online gaming community gets, the more threats begin to appear, one of them being cybercriminals. While the online world oftentimes feels like an imaginary world, if you are not taking online game security risks seriously, you will, sooner or later, feel the consequences in the real world.
Whether you are a pro or a casual gamer, you’ve invested some time, money, and passion into this activity. Moreover, you probably know that the potential for disasters on the internet is ever present.
Cybercriminals want to make money, and there’s a lot of money to be made from gaming. The most common security threats to online gamers are:
- Malware and spyware
- Ransomware
- Phishing
It does not come as a surprise that there are plenty of villains out there looking to capitalize on peoples’ mistakes. The question is: are you ready for them? Did you secure yourself enough? While these online game security risks can cause distress, people should not live in fear, as there are many ways to mitigate risks and have a safer online experience.
The gaming industry has certainly undergone a massive shift from offline gaming to online. More games are being played online, more games are being purchased, and there is an increase in online gaming platforms. With so many opportunities to strike, people must take extra precautions to protect themselves.
Don’t Share Your Personal Info With Others
One of the easiest and most effective ways you can protect yourself from online threats when playing games is to never use your real name, date of birth, or anything that could potentially let others find out who you are. Your username should not consist of any personal data.
Additionally, when you are playing with your friends and unknown users, make sure to make a pact only to use each other’s usernames and not real names. Sharing is not caring in this particular case.
No matter how paranoid this may sound, the reality is that you never know who is on the other side of the screen. And, as you may already know, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
At last, when you are coming up with passwords, the same rules apply. This means no birthdays, no names, no addresses etc. Instead, come up with something strong, secure, and non-related to you as a person. If you wish to take it a step further, make it a habit to change your passwords regularly.
Be Aware of What You Click On
No matter if you play games on your PC, iPhone, tablet, or laptop, there are certain precautions you need to take to keep your devices secure; one of them is to be aware of what you click on. Believe it or not, it only takes one misclick to create a whole bunch of mess.
Cybercriminals try to entice gamers to click dangerous links or download malicious files. With that being said, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Verify every single link before clicking it by hovering over it with your cursor.
Even though you will never be 100% safe online even with solutions like cloud security, you can definitely make yourself a hard target for hackers and cybercriminals. Never open a link or an attachment in an email from people you do not personally know.
A phishing attack is one of the most well-known cyber attacks. Do not let yourself be fooled or tricked, the goal is to outsmart the imposter.
Use Antivirus Software and Regularly Update Your Software
Another way you can keep imposters far away from your personal data is to install antivirus software. This software will scan for malicious viruses and prompt you to take action once it finds a potential threat.
Once you run an antivirus program while gaming, you can feel safe knowing that your entire network won’t be infiltrated and that all of your sensitive data won’t be compromised. Do not worry; there are many antivirus programs out there that won’t have any impact on the speed of your game if that’s what you are afraid of.
Last but certainly not least, make sure to regularly update the software on all of your devices. New vulnerabilities appear every day, and developers release security updates to fix them, so make sure to have them. Remember, a person can never be too safe on the internet.
