Gaming Safety – 5 tips for online protection
With the gaming industry now being worth millions, it is an attractive prospect for hackers and scammers, and even the biggest companies aren’t immune. Recent big scares in which people’s details have been at risk show that gamers can be vulnerable to online fraud.
Here’s our top 5 tips for protecting yourself.
1. Don’t trust people who say that they can give you in-game cheats, especially if they ask for your account details to do it. There isn’t any reason why someone should have to log in as you, ever. If you want to improve in a game check out forums for tips and hints, don’t ever give out your details.
2. Use a separate email address for gaming, create one especially for signing in to these accounts and keeping this information so that it won’t be accessible should your main account be hacked.
3. Protect your password(s). Firstly, be aware of typing it in when other people are around – some people are very good at watching you type. Secondly, protect it from keyloggers – people who use tools to monitor what you type. Copy and pasting passwords can help avoid this but be careful where you save them. Password encryption programs are probably the best source of protection.
4. Be careful entering credit card or bank details. Companies are now offering ways round this, such as vouchers to spend online or pre-paid game cards, which you buy with cash so you don’t ever have to submit credit card details online.
5. Follow general computer safety advice, such as installing a firewall, and having anti-spyware and anti-virus software running.
1. Don’t trust people who say that they can give you in-game cheats, especially if they ask for your account details to do it. There isn’t any reason why someone should have to log in as you, ever. If you want to improve in a game check out forums for tips and hints, don’t ever give out your details.
2. Use a separate email address for gaming, create one especially for signing in to these accounts and keeping this information so that it won’t be accessible should your main account be hacked.
3. Protect your password(s). Firstly, be aware of typing it in when other people are around – some people are very good at watching you type. Secondly, protect it from keyloggers – people who use tools to monitor what you type. Copy and pasting passwords can help avoid this but be careful where you save them. Password encryption programs are probably the best source of protection.
4. Be careful entering credit card or bank details. Companies are now offering ways round this, such as vouchers to spend online or pre-paid game cards, which you buy with cash so you don’t ever have to submit credit card details online.
5. Follow general computer safety advice, such as installing a firewall, and having anti-spyware and anti-virus software running.
