As people spend more of their lives online they also expose more of their personal and financial details. This opens up areas of risk that cybercriminals can exploit.
It might be expected that these hackers would target banks, financial institutes, and large businesses. Of course, they often do, but they also target individuals and other businesses that hold details such as passwords or credit card numbers.
These businesses include gaming sites and companies like Zynga, Big Fish Games, and Steam. The hugely popular gaming platform, Steam, suffered a huge data breach back in 2011 which compromised personal details and financial information.
A Clark School of Engineering study concluded that their computers were attacked over 2,000 times a day by cybercriminals, this equated to an attack every 39 seconds on average.
To keep you and themselves safe, the gaming industry uses its own forms of defense.
Table of Contents
Cryptocurrencies
Now that video games and online casinos have become so popular they have become multi-billion-dollar businesses. This of course makes them targets for hackers looking for weaknesses in security and networks.
These businesses employ a variety of methods to make sure payments remain secure and details are not leaked in any way. Blockchain technology is changing everything slowly but when it comes to payments online casinos have already seen the benefits.
Although the video games industry hasn’t yet adopted bitcoin for payments, there are signs that eSports will get involved soon. The online casino industry has already jumped aboard though. One of the reasons for this is security. Payments are anonymous and if conducted properly, transactions will reveal no details about the bitcoin wallet.
Other payment methods
Online platforms such as Playstation, Xbox, and Steam, offer various payment methods. These often include third-party platforms and e-wallets. The technology used behind these keeps users’ sensitive data away from hackers or any other unauthorized parties.
Sending cash through PayPal or Payoneer means that you don’t send any of your details to the recipient as you are paying indirectly.
White hat security methods
If you have ever heard the expression, poacher turned gamekeeper, then you will have an idea what a white hat hacker is. These are very often individuals who were once on the wrong side of the law and enjoyed hacking for pleasure, vindictiveness, or profit.
Black hats and white hats get their names from the idea that in old movies about the Wild West, the good guys often had white hats and the bad guys, black. Tell that to Johnny Cash.
White hat hackers operate or work for cybersecurity companies and they are employed by the gaming industry to look for security issues. They will look for weaknesses in networks and then patch them up to stay ahead of the hackers.
Legal online casinos employ complex security methods but there are problems with some unlicensed ones. This was shown when 3.3 million people had their details exposed in a breach of a Thai online casino. Gambling is illegal in Thailand and this meant the casino used was not regulated properly. Luckily, the majority of nyerőgépek, slots and poker games are perfectly safe.
How do cybercriminals attack gamers and gaming sites?
One way that has been in the news a lot when it comes to gaming servers is DDoS attacks. This form of attack is designed to bring down networks and frustrate the owners and legitimate users by overloading the servers.
This form of attack has been used on Minecraft servers frequently and in one infamous case led to far worse outcomes. Back in 2016, three US hackers decided to orchestrate some DDoS attacks on Minecraft servers with the view to convincing the users to switch to their own servers. Incidentally, they were offering security against DDoS attacks too. Unfortunately, their bots got out of control and ended up creating the biggest attack of that type ever.
Other techniques include man-in-the-middle where they try to eavesdrop on data being transferred between you and the web page’s servers. Ransomware that infects your computer leaving you with no choice but to pay out cash. They also target the companies themselves.
What are the consequences of a data breach?
If you were playing online games and had an account with personal information in, you wouldn’t want this to be shared with anyone right? Well, that’s exactly what will happen if your gaming platform suffers a data breach.
Cybercriminals target online casinos and video game platforms and hope they will find usernames, passwords, names, and credit card details. This information can be sold online to the highest bidder or it may be used by the hacking group themselves.
There are methods you can use to keep yourself safer when online.
Stay anonymous when online
You may have heard of swatting. This is a so-called prank that has involved gamers in the past and led to at least one death. Swatting is where one gamer calls the police and gives out details of another with a warning that they are armed or committing a crime.
Fortunately, it isn’t widespread but it has happened enough times that you should be aware of keeping your true identity secret. Using unrelated usernames and passwords is a good idea and so is using a VPN.
In fact, if you are going to play video games or use an online casino, a VPN is an excellent idea. Not only does it protect your identity and location, but it also prevents man-in-the-middle attacks and can reduce the chances of viruses infecting your device. It can also let you access offshore websites and help you to take advantage of their casino bonus when you sign up.
VPNs will also let you access overseas services. So, if you want to watch UK Netflix in the US, join an Asian server for your favorite FPS, or play slot machines from Hawaii, a VPN can help you do so.
Summary
Whether you are playing Battlefield V, blackjack on your smartphone, League of Legends, or poker, it is reassuring to know that online casinos and gaming platforms are making sure they are ahead of the cybercriminals when it comes to keeping your data safe.
Knowing how to protect yourself from virus attacks is one step to keeping yourself safe online. Another is using a VPN. Fortunately, gaming sites also take your security seriously.
Comments are closed.