If your child is obsessed with online gaming, you’re not alone. More than 179 million people are interested in online gaming, whether that be with competitive battle royales or multi-layered puzzle adventures. For gamers, there’s nothing quite like the rush of defeating a major boss or beating a level that was a roadblock in their journey.
However, it’s in everybody’s best interest to stay up on new video game trends. By knowing cybersecurity risks associated with online gaming, you can better understand the security risks associated with online platforms while keeping the Cyber Safety of your child, yourself, and the rest of your family in mind.
In this post, we’ll dig into the trends happening across all platforms of online gaming, and then give you tips on how to keep yourself secure.
Online Video Game Trends & Cybersecurity
Video games are shaping the future of entertainment and setting a standard in the modern world. Although they are great examples of cutting-edge technology, video games can also be a risk to cyber Safety. Many video games need an internet connection to even be played these days. Here are a few video game platforms and ways to ensure your cybersecurity.
Cloud-based gaming
Let’s be real—everything is in the cloud now. With the trend of cloud-based gaming on the rise, gone are the days of downloading a video game to your computer or console, or searching for a physical copy for months on end. But with this innovation comes risks. Cybercriminals often use DDoS cyberattacks to compromise cloud-based gaming systems.
Tip: stay ahead of these attacks by downloading antivirus software to your computer to alert you of threats.
Mobile Gaming
There is a large community of mobile video game players and the number is only growing, making it one of the top platforms for gaming in 2022. Mobile gaming really hit its stride during the COVID-19 pandemic, when unexpected and long lockdowns made people turn to mobile devices to keep entertained. Cybersecurity risks associated with mobile gaming include hackers gaining access to identifiable information through account hacking.
Tip: Keep personal information private, don’t give away information in chat boxes or text forums.
Video Game Streaming Platforms
Streaming video games and watching or playing eSports have become popular household activities. Streaming platforms like Twitch or Caffeine let you connect with popular video game influencers, news sites, and comedians as they play their favourite games for an audience.
Hackers know how valuable this audience can be to young startups and streamers, which is why they create phishing emails to convince gamers that they will have a place on a new streaming service. Cybercriminals will then say that payment information and personal details are the first steps to signing up for their new platform.
Tip: Download antivirus software to alert your household of dangerous links, emails, and websites.
Next-Gen Consoles
You may think that your family is secure when using popular next-gen consoles to do online gaming, but there are still some risks involved. Luckily, developers know that they’re always under attack, which is why they constantly upgrade their consoles with new software updates. It’s possible that you may receive a spam message every once in a while that asks you to follow a link, making your user account (and all the information you stored within like credit cards) susceptible to hacks.
Tip: Turn on automatic updates on your console to ensure that the software is always up to date.
The Best Cybersecurity Tips for Gamers
Although we already listed tips for every kind of online gaming platform above, we thought it would be best to provide the top five tips that every gamer should follow—no matter how they enjoy their games!
- Practice password hygiene by using complex, unique passwords and changing them every 4–6 months.
- Keep personal information private because cybercriminals and hackers may break into your account and steal your identity.
- Beware of phishing emails by never clicking on suspicious links sent in emails or direct messages to your online gaming account
- Avoid NFT scams. Multiple game developers are pumping out NFTs as downloadable content (DLC). Make sure the seller is legitimate or buy gaming NFTs directly from the official online store.
- Download antivirus software. Hackers and cyberthieves are always trying to get your personal information. By downloading antivirus software to your PC, you can game in peace.
Now that you know about the trends affecting young people who play video games online, you can better protect yourself and your family from cybercriminals and hackers. Upgrade your Cyber Safety by installing antivirus software for all of your devices and consoles.
