Things That You Should Be Aware Of While Playing Online Games

Online games are really fun, and the Online Gaming industry is growing rapidly without any downfall.

According to Polygon, “Consumers spent $23.5 billion on the gaming industry in 2015. $16.5 billion was spent on gaming content alone.”

During the Age of Dial-up Internet, not many were interested in giving a thought about online gaming. Now, when we have powerful consoles and computers along with ultra-high speed Internet Connectivity, people have switched to net games rather than sticking to the offline games.

online-gaming

There is no stop to the evolution of these technologies and every year, the online gaming experience is just becoming advanced and realistic.

Why People Prefer Playing Games On The Web?

At some point in time, when you finish a game or complete all the stages, it becomes boring, and ultimately you are forced to uninstall it.

However, Online Games add longevity in these Video Games where you can complete/play with real opponents from all over the world.

Also, most of the people find it boring to play against the AI since it becomes repetitive and predictable after some time. Online Mode gives them the advantage of facing new challenges from all over the world.

Is Online Game Safe?

I always told from the beginning that going online should never be taken casually. Whenever we play an online game or connect our offline games to the Internet for multiplayer gaming, our system is directly connected to the server which enables the data transfer between your client and the server.

Hence, this completely enables the external server to read-write data on our computer. While most of the trusted gaming clients are highly secured and are completely transparent with their servers, you should still be careful while allowing any gaming client to connect to the Internet.

According to Norton, Sometimes, players in these online multiplayer games (including “World of Warcraft,” “Dungeon Fighter Online,” “Second Life” and “Free Realms”) aren’t who they say they are.

Hackers and phishers can create bots that pretend to be players but really aim to steal information or infect others’ computers. After the recent Ransomware attacks, it has become important to take care of your security and privacy carefully.

6 Tips To Stay Safe While Playing The Internet Games

There are few things which you should be aware of before playing online games.

1. Never Use Pirated/Cracked Clients

Yes, Never! If you can’t afford the game then better go and play the free version of the game instead of pirated or cracked ones. Most of the pirated clients contain hidden malware or keyloggers which may not only steal the data but can also hijack your system.

2. Avoid Outdated Games

Online Games which are no more supported by the developers should be avoided. There’s a chance that hacker might hijack your computer through the unpatched loopholes in the server.

3. Scams

Avoid going to any websites which offer you free game benefits such as coins, points, virtual money, etc. Most of them are scams. Buy items only from the official site or through the official client.

4. Avoid Adding Card/Payment Details

In case you need to buy anything from the official store of the particular game, you can use your card. However, after the transaction is one, remove any payment detail which you saved while purchasing. Servers or your client can be hacked anytime.

5. Do Proper Research

Before signing up for any online game, always do some research. This would give you an overall idea about the game as there are many online games which are created just to spread the malware.

6. Avoid Using Web-Cams

While it’s okay to use your Headphones/Microphones for online conversations during gaming, you should avoid using your Webcam. You can also place a small sticker on the camera of your Laptop or Web-Cam to ensure better privacy.

How Can I Protect Myself During Online Gaming?

While awareness is the best solution, you may follow these tips which will ensure you better safety while playing online games.

Install Anti-Virus

We recommend to Install an Anti-Virus software which comes with Network Security features. Kaspersky, BitDefender, and AVG are pretty good when it comes to total security.

Windows Defender in Windows 10 is becoming better day by day and it can be a temporary replacement until you settle with a good Anti-Virus.

Turn On Your Firewall

Always keep your Windows Firewall On. A firewall keeps your computer safe from many network attacks and turning it down can make your system vulnerable. Whenever you are making Firewall Exceptions, always verify the executable files.

Avoid Using Unknown Browser Extensions

Google Chrome is still not intelligent enough to identify the genuine and fake browser extensions. It is recommended to avoid unknown browser extensions and they may steal your data.

Update your Gaming Client

If you are playing Online Games through a Client, make sure it is updated to the latest versions. Developers work hard to patch the vulnerabilities and it his highly recommended that you should keep your client updated.

Use VPN

If possible, you should use VPN when you play the online games. VPN ensures security by transferring your data through secured protocols from one server to another with complex encryption.

Check for Suspicious Background Processes

There are possibilities that your Anti-virus may not detect the malicious processes. It is always advisable to check the suspicious background processes running on your system through Task Manager. To do this, open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del), head over to ‘Processes’ and take a look at the running processes.

This requires some knowledge regarding the computer processes. Don’t simply end the process without thinking. If you find anything suspicious, search on Google to confirm and then disable. Find out from where that process executable was initiated and try to remove it from your computer.

Before doing this, please make sure you are confident enough that you are removing the malicious. EXE file instead of any system file.

Final Words

These are few tips which would help you to stay protected while playing Online Games. While it entirely depends upon your Awareness and Actions you take online; these basic tips will just act as a support for you.

Online Gaming is a source of real-time entertainment where you can experience the actual challenges rather than AI Scripted modes.

If you have further suggestions for this list, kindly post in the comments sections below.

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