Cybersecurity in Online Gaming: How Players Can Protect Themselves in this Digital Age

According to Statista, the online games market is projected to experience an annual growth rate of 5.20%, which could result in a US$32.56bn volume by 2027. This success has made the internet gaming industry a breeding ground for cyber attacks. It’s advisable to stay vigilant of these attacks and protect yourself when gaming online. This write-up discusses about cybersecurity in online gaming and give tips on how you can protect yourself when playing games online. Read on!

Why Is Cybersecurity Important in Online Gaming?

Sensitive data like usernames and passwords, payment details, and even messages between players is relatively abundant in online gaming networks. There are several reasons hackers target these platforms:

• Financial Motivation: The virtual currency and items are taken from the game and sold for real-world money.
• Identity theft: Someone can use personal information for illegal activities or to sell it on the dark web.
• Competitive Advantage: A few attackers disrupt the gameplay to attain a competitive advantage.
• Disruption: Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks crash servers, which spoils the experience for gamers.

Due to these risks, both gamers and gaming companies need to take cybersecurity very seriously to be able to enjoy a positive experience.

Risks Associated with Online Gaming

Before we delve into the details of how you can protect yourself when playing online games, let’s first understand the risks around cybersecurity in online gaming. They include:

1.    Malware Attacks and Virus Infections

Mostly, unofficial games contain malware and viruses, which hackers use to attack your device and gain access to your personal information. In that case, refrain from downloading cheaper or free game versions. Beware of third-party sellers claiming to offer cheat codes to your favourite game.

Malware infections are usually transmitted through infected fake login pages, emails, or ads. If you click or download the files sent to you by hackers, you may end up infecting a device.

2.    Spyware and Data Breaches

A fraudulent gaming operator or developer may collect your personal information without your knowledge and use it to track your online activities. Most of them record and sell the data to third parties, which is technically a breach of privacy. For instance, a game developer called Zynga suffered a massive data breach in 2019, which left more than 172 million accounts with infections. It is one of the biggest data breaches to date.

3.    Identity Theft

As the name suggests, identity theft involves someone stealing your information and using it for fraudulent purposes. This includes your name, email address, and phone number.

Usually, identity thieves gain access to your information when you are logging or signing into an online gaming platform. Besides, they can use the chat feature to collect it from you.

4.    Weak Passwords

Gamers make one of the biggest mistakes by using simple or reused passwords. Brute force or credential stuffing attacks can easily crack weak passwords. Hackers try to access several accounts using different databases of leaked passwords.

5.    Credential Stuffing

Many gamers reuse passwords on many different accounts, making them prime targets for credential stuffing attacks. When hackers are able to leak login details to access one account, they usually will try to log into other accounts.

6.    Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

XSS attacks can take advantage of platforms or sites where the authentication processes are not fully secured. It means that hackers include malicious scripts in websites so that every time a user enters their login credentials, they will be stolen.

7.    Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack

DDoS attacks bombard servers with fake traffic, taking them offline and disrupting the game. Such attacks become truly malicious during competitive matches or tournaments.

8.    Phishing Scams

Phishing emails take advantage of gamers and try to get them to provide credentials or download malware by pretending to be from a gaming company.

9.    Cyberbullying

When engaging in online gaming, it is common to communicate over chats or voice discord. Sadly, there are some players who cross the line by cyberbullying, using abusive language, or forcing victims to disclose sensitive information.

How Cyberattacks Affect Gamers

Cyberattacks can have serious ramifications on gamers:

• They can lose virtual items and currencies that take years to accumulate in a game.
• Their payment information can be used to conduct fraudulent transactions.
• Personal chats and conversations can be made public.
• DDoS and other forms of attack are common to ruin a competitive match or tournament.
• Cyberbullying can make the victim suffer from anxiety or depression.

How to Protect Yourself

Now that you know the cybersecurity risks of playing online games, let’s discuss ways you can protect yourself.

1.    Create a Strong and Unique Password

Usually, players are required to create an account to access their favorite games. In that case, ensure you come up with a strong and unique password to minimize the risks of your data falling into the wrong hands.

Ideally, it involves creating a password that is hard for fraudsters to guess. So, when creating your password, don’t make the mistake of using information that can be easily guessed by someone who knows you. This includes your mom’s name, your date of birth or your child’s name.

To make your password unpredictable, use at least 12 characters, including a combination of alphabets, numbers, and symbols. For alphabets, ensure you mix lower and uppercase letters.

Also, avoid using the same password for all your online accounts. It eliminates the risk of hackers gaining access to all of your accounts.

Last but not least, always log out of your account after accessing it using someone else’s device.

2.    Update Your Software Regularly

Updated software can greatly minimize cyber vulnerabilities when gaming online. In that case, keep your antivirus and device’s operating system up-to-date to ensure you use the latest security patches.

3.    Enable the 2-factor Authentication

After activating the two-factor authentication on your account, you’ll be required to verify your identity twice when accessing your account from a different device. This adds an extra layer of security to your gaining account.

It usually involves receiving a message or email with a code, which you’d use to confirm it’s you who is attempting to access the account. So, if someone tries to log into your account, you will be notified immediately.

4.    Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network)

Installing a VPN on your device helps conceal your location. It works by encrypting your internet connection to protect your privacy.

As a result, each time you use a VPN to log into your gaming account, it appears as if you are accessing it from a different geographical location than the one you are at, making it hard for attackers to find your actual location.

5.    Avoid Public Wi-Fi

Hackers can intercept data that is transmitted over unsecured public Wi-Fi networks. Play using a VPN on public networks.

6.    Download Games from Official Sources

When downloading a game or an update, only use trusted platforms to avoid the malware hidden in files that are marketed as legitimate files.

7.    Be Cautious with Emails

Be wary of links or attachments regarding your games, never trust emails you receive about your games, and verify their authenticity before clicking anything.

8.    Monitor Account Activity

Be sure to log in from time to time to see if anything out of the ordinary is happening and report any odd behavior as soon as possible.

9.    Learn About Phishing Methods

Phishing scams are a common way to deliver messages that trick you into sharing your information.

Cybersecurity Measures Every Gaming Company Should Take

Gaming companies also protect their users through security measures:

• Always Encrypt User Data: All user data should always be encrypted at rest and in transit.
• Employ Secure Authentication Protocols: Provide 2FA options and require strong passwords.
• Identify Suspicious Activities: Use advanced analytics tools to look for unusual patterns that may indicate an attack.
• Continuous Security Audits: Regularly audit your infrastructure and systems to find the vulnerabilities.
• Educate Users: Offer players resources about cybersecurity best practices.

Gaming Cybersecurity Trends of the Future

With technology advancing, some online gaming cybersecurity challenges will keep emerging:

Web3 Gaming Risks

As decentralized platforms (such as blockchain-based games and the like) become more commonplace, hackers are likely to target smart contracts and wallets holding digital assets.

AI-Powered Attacks

With the help of artificial intelligence, hackers could launch more advanced attacks designed to circumvent conventional security defenses.

Increased Focus on Privacy

GDPR, among other similar regulations, will force companies to focus more on protecting the data and being transparent with the user on how exactly their data is saved and used.

Conclusion

Prioritizing your security when playing online games can save you from many problems, including identity theft and malware attacks. From creating strong passwords to using a VPN, the tips above will help you minimize the risks of online attacks. They are your best bet to ensure you enjoy uninterrupted gaming experience.

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