Are you a Dwarf, Elf, or maybe a Troll? If you have ever been any of these characters you have most likely played World of Warcraft or a similar online game. The world of online gaming has vastly progressed from an isolated individualistic activity to an entire society of its own, complete with online interactions with others. When you are playing games like this you need to understand that without the proper protection you and your information are vulnerable.

In just one example, more than a thousand gamers in South Korea had their identities compromised through a fantasy game called “Lineage”. Game accounts were created in their names without them being aware of it. In that case it was possible for hackers to attempt to make money by selling those people’s virtual weapons and the character abilities they had earned from spending hours playing the game.

Online game sites have become a growing area for people to access personal information. If someone obtains information about you from the profiles you create in games, they could use it to establish accounts in your name, resell it, or use it to access your existing financial accounts.

When on gaming sites it is important to be aware of having your settings in administrator mode. With some games, your computer will be put on that setting automatically. This is a problem because a hacker can gain full control of your computer at the administrator level. One way to avoid this problem is by web browsing from a user account – while this won’t completely safeguard your computer it is safer than using administrator mode. Some online games are played through a web browser which requires ActiveX or JavaScript in order for the game to work. If you play this way, you and your information are more vulnerable to attacks.

Whenever you’re online it is important to be careful about opening email messages or instant messages that seem odd, or that come from an unknown user. When these messages are opened, hackers can spread a virus or hack into your computer. This is why it’s important to keep an eye out for suspicious messages — especially from unknown users.

Users often use firewalls to help protect their computers. Playing a multiplayer game sometimes requires an exception in the rule set for the firewall. When removing your firewall it is important to understand that it is there to protect your computer from viruses and by removing it you are making you and your information extremely vulnerable. Remember that if you lessen your security measures you’ll be attacked by more than just Orcs!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 24th, 2009 at 10:16 am by Melissa Goncalves and is filed under privacy online. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.