As opposed to what was thought of gaming back in the early 2000s, adults worldwide are highly interested in gaming. As of right now, the range of the mean age of gamers worldwide is between 18 to 35 years, with females even more involved than the males. By next year, 2021, the net worth of the online gaming world will be in the region of $175 billion. With such high monetary value involved, online gaming has become a target for hackers, putting gamers and their information at risk.
Common Cyber Risks Faced by Gamers
1. With the ability to link several accounts together, which has made logins and payments easier, so comes the greater risk of being affected. Given that a lot of people tend to make use of the same passcode for everything, a hacker who has access to the gaming passcode can easily redirect focus to bank accounts and begin to siphon funds.
2. The truth is, not everyone can afford to continually purchase games, thereby making some gamers resort to downloading cracked or pirated versions. This is especially risky because many of these cracked versions contain malware that can easily infect their gaming devices and compromise the integrity and security of the system which is why players should stick to purchasing games from reputable sellers.
3. To every gamer, progress is the most important thing. Many are unwilling to go through the painstaking process of developing characters through the game and feel they require power-ups. Which is why they patronize foreign sellers who provide the boosts they want. Unfortunately, this opens people to scammers who could take the money and not provide the boosts, or through the provided power-ups, gain access to their personal info or account details.
Ways to secure Gaming Devices
1. The first step is to always set strong passwords. Regardless of the sentimental attachment to a person or thing, it is always safer to use a password consisted of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters. It should also be made a point of duty not to repeat passcodes for anything. Gamers should simply download a verified password manager and store all the complex passwords, ensuring that all they need remember is the password of the manager.
2. With the influence of hackers growing fast, and the common anti-viruses being unable to defend against them, it is imperative to encrypt the connection to gaming sites by employing a VPN for gamers to guarantee the prevention of malware, and also ensure that the game continually operates at optimal levels.
3. As earlier stated, gamers should continually restrict themselves to in-game activities. Actions like purchasing boosts and in-game coins from third-party sellers, downloading some external software for team communication, downloading suspicious attachments from fellow online gamers without initially confirming that said attachment is from the individual, and divulging personal information such as account details, home address, and family information to unknown online personas must be stopped.
Cybercrime awareness is extremely key, and it is best to constantly be updated on new protective measures, and educate fellow gamers on the importance of cybersecurity and how they can take measures to ensure their details and progress.
