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Introduction
Newzoo published a report earlier this year that speculated the eSports industry would reach up to $1.1 billion dollars in revenue sometime this year. That sounds high, but considering just how popular the eSports industry has become—especially due to the COVID pandemic—it’s not that surprising.
With plenty of people getting into eSports recently, it is the perfect time to go over how eSports can stay safe while playing online. After all, the video game industry is haunted by data breaches, cyber-attacks, and hacked profiles and accounts.
3 Ways for eSports Players to Stay Safe Online
1. Never Share Personal Information
eSports and online gaming, in general, are beautiful because they allow people from all over the world to connect with each other. But that does mean you don’t know who you are playing with, and on the off-chance, you accidentally spill some personal information about yourself online, you could be putting your online identity at risk.
It’s best to limit the amount of personal information you display on your profiles, accounts and vice versa. And unless you personally know them, do not give out personal information to people online.
2. Use a VPN While Gaming Online
Even if you opt not to share personal information online, you’re still at risk of having said information exposed via online play. See, not all online servers are built differently, and issues can arise. For example, a recent patch for the Avengers game forced players’ IP addresses to show on their screens, exposing streamers to DDoS attacks.
There are also hackers who can trace your IP while gaming online. If you want to ensure that hackers or game companies won’t expose your data and other private information, you could always use a Virtual Private Network(VPN).
A VPN encrypts your data and anonymizes your connection, so even if a game did display your IP address, it wouldn’t risk your connection or expose your network. A VPN for gamers is an excellent investment for any eSports player.
3. Use Strong Passwords & Prepare For Anything
The video game industry is no stranger to data breaches, nor are hacked services and accounts uncommon. It’s an unfortunate issue that has only continued to grow as time goes on. Perhaps the most infamous incident is the time the hacker group Lizard Squad took down PlayStation Network and Xbox Live in December 2014.
As a result of the video game industry’s familiarity with cybersecurity issues, you should be prepared for anything. One good way to prepare is to ensure that all of your video game-related accounts are protected with a strong password (and two-factor authentication).
Your PSN account, your Xbox account (and your Microsoft account, by extension), any accounts you have linked to a video game: these all need to be protected. And keep a close eye on if there are any suspicious logins made on these accounts so that you can respond quickly and prevent your account(s) from being stolen.
Conclusion
As the eSports industry continues to grow, so do the risk factors associated with eSports, mainly security issues like exposed IP addresses and hacked accounts. If you’re an eSports fan or participate in eSports yourself, you will benefit from securing your accounts, encrypting your data, and learning what information you should and should not share.
