Gaming is not as safe as it used to be. Not only are users under threat due to their torrent downloading, but gaming has also bought with it a lot of privacy issues due to how popular the online aspect has become.
Gaming is a huge industry, and there are no signs of it slowing down in the near future. As such, stopping yourself from playing games is by no means a viable solution.
For this reason, we have gone through the trouble of researching and enlisting 5 different tips that you can use to make sure that your privacy, security, and anonymity is not under threat in any way while you play games.
Use a VPN
A VPN not only helps by increasing your ping (in certain situations, such as if you are connecting to a foreign server), but it also makes sure that no one can find out your actual location. It does this by having a server act as a middleman between you and the server that you are connected to.
Once the VPN is acting as a proxy, it will not be possible for anyone to even see your actual IP address when you are playing. On top of this, a VPN will make sure that you can download torrents safely and not be threatened with litigation.
If you are looking for a good VPN which not only has decent security but a lot of good server locations too, then try using Private Internet Access. Private Internet Access is one of the cheapest VPNs currently available in the market which manages to provide the same amount of features as the industry leaders. This review of Private Internet Access has all the details.
Avoid giving out real information
Although the chances of a game or a forum asking you for your home address are slim, remember to stay vigilant whenever you are active in the gaming world. It is advised that you don’t use your real name as your gamer tag and instead resort to a nickname.
On top of this, remember that any person you befriend online may not be someone who they claim to be. While it is important to meet new people in online games so as to have more fun, all we are saying is to be careful before you hand over personal data of any sort.
Use two-factor authentication if possible
If you are an avid online gamer who uses services that allow you to have 2-factor authentication such as Steam, it is important that you use it and have it activated at all times.
If you have an account on a game-store such as Steam or Origin, you can be exposed to a lot of risks if it someone hacks it. Not only will you lose access to all games that you have on that account, but someone could also use your stored credit card information to purchase new games and in-game items.
An additional tip here is that if one of your accounts which has your credit card info is hacked, then you must immediately deactivate your card by calling your bank.
Avoid shady stores
You may want to purchase games at massive discounts from stores which you have never heard of before. It is a good practice to never buy anything from these stores as their purpose is simply to scam you for the most part.
We also recommend that you do not try to purchase keys from resellers as you never know whether or not your game-key is going to work. There have been numerous reports of keys not working from sites such as G2A. What’s ironic is that G2A’s protection against faulty keys (G2A Shield) has also been touted as a scam by many users.
There are some legitimate stores which sell games at a discount such as Humble Bundle. It is best if you stick to those when wanting to buy games at a discount.
Be careful when torrenting
On a somewhat similar note to the last tip, you also carry a risk when you download games for free. We have already outlined the problems you can face on the legal side of things in the first tip, but you are also vulnerable to malware.
It is best to have a good antivirus suite installed on your PC at all times. Whenever a new file enters your system, this security suite will scan it to make sure there are no security issues. It is also best to read the comments of the torrent file on various different trackers to see whether or not the torrent works properly.
Lastly, remember that some files are mistakenly flagged by anti-virus software such as Key generators so do not worry if you do occasionally find a false positive in the game that you downloaded.