Gaming is an outlet where you turn off your brain from the real world and enter a virtual realm. You can use magical powers to fight against others, save worlds, explore uncharted territories, or control spaceships. There’s a game for every idea you can come up with.
But gaming companies are taking it one step further. They collect information about your personality, messages, contacts, and intelligence. When a hack happens, cybercriminals can steal your identity or use your payment information to steal your money.
More than 3 billion people play online games. That’s a lot of data. And hackers know about it. Cybercrime on gaming platforms and sites is rising at an alarming rate. So, what’s at risk? Personal Information
Let’s take a look at all of the things a game knows about you. It starts with a name, email address, the device you play on, cookies, IP address, country, username, and the game you play. This is pretty basic and straightforward. Everyone knows about it.
Digging deeper, a TechRobot study found out shocking information. Games also track your age, address, passwords, billing address, friends, personal information, social media usernames, credit card info, security questions, chat application data, and offline gameplay information.
Privacy was something that came as a given, and now you need to pay special attention because games are listening to your private conversations. If hacked, cybercriminals will have access to everything you wrote in a gaming lobby. And everyone knows what happens in gaming chats.
What’s even more, if you’re seriously communicating with your friends in a gaming environment, hackers can impersonate you easily. The most popular games have the most data. So be careful when you’re playing League of Legends, Minecraft, or Apex Legends.
Malware
Riot, Epic Games, and Steam keep a log of your behavior. Plus, you need to pay to play specific games. What’s stopping you from going online, finding a free copy of the game, and downloading it from a torrent? The honest answer is malware.
Hackers know that people will try to bypass paid games, and they crack the official version and post it online. However, they add a Trojan virus or another piece of malware to take control of your device. You’re getting a game for free. They’re getting all of your information. Once the virus is on your computer, say goodbye to your personal data.
Stealing Accounts
Most people use the same nickname, username, and password for every game. Of course, you want your teammates to call you the same way. But, if a hacker breaks into one of your accounts, they get all your other ones for no extra work. Brute force attacks work dangerously well to hijack your account if they have your email.
Cyberbullying
People say all sorts of things when they’re angry. Well, that’s what cyberbullying does. You might think that someone is humiliating or offending you for no reason. But, they could have a hidden agenda to make you say where you live, what’s your real name, or spew personal information.
If someone is trying to abuse you, block them immediately, and report their account. You should never tolerate cyberbullying, and make sure to take a break to cool your head off.
Phishing
Whenever someone sends you a link in a gaming chat, don’t click on it. Make this a rule in your life. You never know who’s on the other side. They might send you a link to get millions of gold coins, skins or download a new server to play on. In reality, the link will have malicious intent, install a virus on your device, and compromise your data.
How To Protect Yourself?
Even though online gaming is made to be fun, cybercriminals make it dangerous. But that’s only when you don’t know how to navigate it. By taking a few necessary precautions, you can ensure data never leaks, and you don’t install malware.
Use a VPN and Antivirus
A combo of a VPN and antivirus will do wonders for your gaming, personal, and professional devices. Hackers use the same strategies to target you from every source. But these programs catch every piece of malware that gets flung your way. Let’s say you’re the admin of a GTA or Minecraft server. Using a Minecraft VPN changes your IP address and encrypts your data. The antivirus will detect viruses in files and ensure no one blows TNT on the building you’ve worked so hard to create.
2FA and Strong Passwords
Some games require you to write your password every single time you log in. You might do it a few times, then you’ll get tired and create something short and simple. But it’s necessary for your password to have at least 12 characters. Use uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters. Create a combo that no one can break, and your accounts will be safe.
As an extra protection layer, set up 2FA. Two-factor authentication sends a code to your email or phone. That’s one time only. Even if someone were to find out your password, they wouldn’t be able to log in without passing the 2FA.
Use A Fake Account
Nothing makes you more secure than having a fake account only for gaming. Create a new mail, and use that one for Steam, the Epic Launcher, and every other game you use. Add a cool nickname on top of it, and absolutely no one will know who you are.
Don’t use personal information like your name and surname when creating it, and pretend to be someone else. That way, even if a hacker breaks in and steals your data, you won’t lose anything besides the extra 15 minutes it took you to create it. Sure, you might lose your game progress. But that’s a small price to pay compared to somebody draining your real bank account.
