Get a quick insight on Gaming Security and learn basic ways to secure your Game Consoles.
Apart from giving players access to the best video games, modern gaming consoles are used as streaming devices for movies and TV shows, recording devices for games, and even game-sharing devices.
This connectivity comes at a cost in the form of security risks to users. These include hacking, phishing, and data loss. In 2011, the PlayStation network hack put more than 70 million user details at risk, showing how detrimental a hack can be.
Here are some common gaming console security risks and how you can remain protected.
Gaming Consoles Security Risks
Keyloggers and Brute Force Attacks
In Brute force and keyloggers attacks, attackers use social engineering to exploit a player’s behavior to try to infiltrate consoles and accounts.
The aim of these attacks is to access gaming accounts for inventory and sometimes credit card details used to buy more inventory that is later sold in the black gaming market for real money.
Spoofed Websites
Most spoofing scams involve luring players into clicking on a link by offering rare and hard-to-acquire in-play goodies. Clicking on the link redirects the player to a fake website mimicking a legitimate gaming website to trick the user into attempting to log in. The hacker steals the credentials and accesses the victim’s account to steal inventory or take over the account.
Spoofing websites are meant to access a player’s gaming account to steal inventory or their personal information like banking and credit card details.
DDoS Attacks
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a common hack used to overload a network, website, or web service by flooding it with too much traffic at a time to cause the server to crash and cripple the service.
Hackers mostly target online gaming platforms like Nintendo Switch Online, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and Steam to access user data. A DDoS attack was the cause of the 2011 PlayStation Network attack.
Best Ways for Gamers to Protect Themselves
Use a VPN
Using a VPN for gaming comes highly recommended for gamers looking to enhance the security of their gaming account. A VPN will not only protect your account from online hackers and spies but also improve your gaming and streaming speed.
With a VPN, you can hide your actual location by concealing your IP address. This way, you can access streaming services and games from other countries.
Using 2FA for your Gaming Account
All major gaming consoles come with 2FA (two-factor authentication) capabilities accessible from the settings.
2FA gives you an extra layer of protection for your gaming account and console. To log into a 2FA-protected account, you need to provide an additional set of codes to confirm your identity. Even with a compromised password, a hacker cannot access your account without the authentication code.
Get a Password Manager
The password is the first line of defense against hackers and intruders for gaming accounts. By using a password manager application, you ensure your password is unique and hard to crack. It will create strong passwords for all your accounts and save them safely away from your browser.
Learning about cybersecurity issues facing gaming consoles is the best way to remain safe while gaming. With the information and tips in this article, you will be able to stay safe as you game and stream using your console.
With Love From VOiD1 Gaming
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