Ensuring safety in every possible place is not a negligible thing in our life, it has to be a part of our culture, the people need to build the ability to be safe everywhere. Giving the proper awareness about the particular situation and the worst outcomes can enable the individuals responsible and think about the preventive methods.
We are living in the cyber world, where everything is dependent upon technology and internet-related services. So, staying safe and leading a secure life in the internet world becomes necessary.
We are all aware that scams and other internet-based malpractices are growing day by day and can be found in various dimensions.
Making the people around us informed about cyber crimes and the risky elements associated with it, is the responsibility of each individual and an obligation to our world.
Gaming is an important part of web2 culture and an active service in the internet world, engaging in it gives us tremendous fun and gaming experience. But there will be dark sides too, there are so many scams and fraudulent activities happening around the gaming community, so staying safe in the arena is the responsibility of the respective individuals, let us all take this month as the proper channel to spread the information about the cybersecurity and methods need to be taken care of to create a good gaming atmosphere.
What is Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Every year, we celebrate October month as Cybersecurity Awareness Month, to make people aware of the need for cybersecurity and the methods to attain that goal.
It is the best time to talk about this particular initiative because the internet world is not a per cent safe place anymore, a lot of fraudulent activities are in the cyber world, and a simple mistake there can cost us too much, the scammers can get access to our valuable information and things just by clicking in a random software. So staying alert and aware of the possible dangers associated with it is our responsibility.
This initiative was introduced by the United States Government in 2004 since various action plans and programs were conducted to attain the goal. The program is the result of the combined effort of The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA)This program aims to raise awareness of online safety and cybersecurity.
All the countries are highly supportive and engage in the campaign by hosting events, launching new cybersecurity-related programs, and providing adequate resources to enlighten the people.
The focus for Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024 is “Secure the World,” and the highlighted factors include AI-driven attacks, phishing attempts, and the significance of multi-factor authentication.
Play PC games and enjoy: But be aware of the dangers in it
Playing games will be the main hobby of most of us when we are stressed or bored. It is the best way to have fun and kill the time. There are a lot of games available right now both online and offline, individuals can choose whatever they need from the application pools.
But the question always linked to online PC games is, is this secure enough or is this application credible? Playing online games is good, but staying away from the possible cybersecurity threat is inevitable.
So the users need to be given proper guidance and information related to the dangers associated with it. Through this cybersecurity awareness month campaign, we can make our gaming community aware of the threats in the system.
Losing personal data and valuable information via gaming scams will be too costly and sometimes even cause personal data misuse, so taking care of these things while playing funny games should be taken care of.
Possible risks associated with online PC Games
1. Data Breach
This is a common and most fearful cybersecurity threat associated with PC gaming, gaming applications store and ask for our so many personal data as part of their functioning, so the use of these sensitive data in inappropriate situations will be too costly for us, this data can be even used for identity theft and other related financial fraudulent activities.
2. Phishing
This is the baiting process adopted by scammers to attract or lure gamers, in this method, scammers share emails and certain links to the players via social media and applications, most of the time these links are combined with the in-game rewards, but after clicking in those messages, their devices may be infected with the malware.
3. Malware
These kinds of viruses or programs can affect the entire device and hackers will get access to your personal information, any unfamiliar downloads, attachments, or website links associated with the game can infect the system with malware, these malware is capable enough to steal the personal passwords.
4. Distributed Denial of service (DDoS)
This is a type of cyberattack that causes a lot of risk and damage to the device by flooding the gaming servers with a large amount of traffic. By doing this so, access to legitimate users becomes limited and degrades the gaming performance.
See also: 2024’s Best Mac Games: The Top 7 Picks
How to be secure from these gaming cyber attacks?
Gamers need to follow some strict actions to stay away from possible cyber security threats, these actions can only make a difference and put you away from the danger zone. The safety measures to follow are,
Use strong passwords
Setting up the gaming data with a strong password is the very first step to secure your gaming experience. If you are using a weak password or without a password, the chance of exposing your account to the hands of hackers will be very high.
Make sure that you remember the password very well, and avoid all the digital mediums for recording that secret code. Storing it in another electronic method can too be cracked by hackers.
Set up multifactor authentication (MFA)
Using multifactor authentication is the best way to secure the gaming data, this is a security process where users are requested to provide a second way of logging into the account apart from using the password system, enabling this option can give your data a double security. Setting up a biometric scan as the MFA would be ideal and strongly recommended.
Download the game from official websites and stores
Choose the downloading platform wisely and try to avoid unofficial websites, these websites usually contain malware that is powerful enough to track your data. Prefer the official websites of the game and application stores like Microsoft Store and App Store to download the game.
Avoid clicking the unwanted links that offer in-game reward
Avoid all the unwanted links and links from unfamiliar platforms to stay away from phishing, these links might contain malware and by just clicking on them, you might give access permission to it.
By following these methods we can decrease the number of Cyber attack victims in our community. Taking the necessary actions to prevent the worst possible outcomes is the only thing we can do in this situation.
Be aware that this gaming world has a very high possibility of cyber threats and attacks, and the loss we get from these situations will be too costly and sometimes even impossible to solve and move on.
Eradicating the chances of exposing our data to scammers and information through digital PC gaming is the ideal solution for the problem. Read the privacy policy of the game before you enter into the game, check whether the game is tracking your data, and use it for another purpose.
Avoid these kinds of games which use personal data on other platforms. This can help you from future risks and avoid problematic situations
Also, Read: Top 10 Multiplayer PS5 Games: What Makes Them Special?
Conclusion
There is a saying, that prevention is always better than cure, preventing anything bad from happening would be always ideal than trying to cure it, so taking preventive measures against cybersecurity threats is the most preferable way.
Empowering gamers with adequate safety measures is the best thing we can do during the cybersecurity awareness month. To enjoy the actual fun and excitement the game brings, gamers need to be free from external complexities, these insecure cyber problems and environment can kill the whole purpose of gaming, so fighting against cyber attackers by taking proper actions at the proper time is highly appreciated and it will lead to the betterment of gaming as well as online community.
CISA is officially suggesting certain methods to prevent cybercrimes and attacks, the recommended suggestions are, to use strong passwords and a password manager to enable extra security for the online services that you commonly use. Other suggestions from CISF are
- Turn on multifactor authentication
- Recognize and report phishing
- Update software
More information about Cybersecurity Month is available in the combined press release by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance.
There is detailed information about the campaigns recommended for the betterment of the online environment, so following those suggestions and activities will be a great initiative to eradicate cyber evils from our world.
