The popularity of online gaming has risen dramatically over the last 10 years or so and this trend doesn’t appear like it’ll be changing anytime soon. This is down to a range of factors, but most importantly, online games have been more accessible, more diverse, and often cheaper. For example, competition in the iGaming market has led to many online casinos offering bonuses to new players to encourage them to use their platform over another. Savvy casino gamers have spotted this and taken to sites like oddschecker to compare the latest offers to see which one works best for them.
However, while our interest in gaming has increased exponentially, our understanding of internet security hasn’t. This means many users are exposed to risks that could very easily be circumvented through an understanding of basic cybersecurity.
Here’s two key reasons why modern internet security is often found wanting among users:
Most People Practice Poor Password Management
You know your password should be a secret, yet they often aren’t. A 2008 study by Symantec and moneysupermarket.com found that 60% of British people were willing to hand over their password in exchange for a £5 M&S gift card.
Even if more of us have wised up to that trick in 2022, the reality is there are dozens of other ways to acquire or simply guess your password. This problem is compounded by the fact that most people use the same password (or a slight variation of it) for multiple accounts.
So if that a website you use has poor security systems and is hacked, your email and password combination could be used to gain access to other websites you have accounts with. The most dangerous risk is if someone gained access to your email account as they’d then be able to reset your passwords for, and gain control of, just about everything you do on the internet.
Malware Hampers Performance
Many gamers pay a lot of money to get the fastest and most powerful hardware so that they can enjoy the best graphics, the highest frame rates, and the shortest loading times. Some even forego security software so that they can free up their processor and memory for their games.
However, this can often be quite shortsighted as it exposes the computer to malware and hacking attempts. Should one of these be successful, the computer’s resources could be hogged by the malware so that your computer can be used as part of a botnet.
So if you’re really not concerned about any accounts or information being compromised, then it’s worth keeping in mind that security threats can also risk your overall gaming experience.
