If you’re a lover of video games, or online casino titles are more your thing, in order to get online and get stuck in playing, you’ll be required to share personal data. Whether it’s your name, address, or banking details, if you’re not protecting such information, it could fall into the wrong hands and have catastrophic consequences. Cybercriminals and attacks do occur, so to stay one step ahead of them and keep safe online, here are some tips that can help.
If there is one tip that we cannot stress enough, it’s to choose trustworthy gaming sites. If you like playing online casino games, for example, you’ll be giving away access to information like your credit card or bank account details. Should a third-party access your account, you could end up a victim of fraud. This means it’s vital you do your research when picking a gaming website.
For those who don’t have the time to look through sites, OnlineCasinos has done all the hard work for you. The team at OnlineCasinos has reviewed plenty of safe gambling websites, meaning you can be confident your private data will be kept strictly confidential. It’s a good idea to check out other players’ reviews too, as they’ll give you an honest insight into how the casino operates and what their reputation is like.
If you enjoy spending countless hours playing online games, it’s time to use a VPN (virtual private network). This will encrypt your connection, which means it can make it look as though you are playing from a different computer. Because there isn’t a direct connection between your computer and online activity, hackers will have a hard job knowing exactly where you are.
Remember, not every VPN is reliable. Unfortunately, malicious agents can create fake VPN services and take advantage of your trust and collect your information. This means you must stick with VPNs that are trustworthy and have a long history of happy customers.
With online gaming, you may be required to download titles or software to get the full experience. When doing this (and even if you choose a reputable source), software and games can be infiltrated and used by cybercriminals to trick users into installing malicious software onto their devices. Hackers are always using new strategies to steal information, such as by using a keystroke program that can access all your passwords, especially on banking websites.
Whatever you do, make sure you purchase a good anti-malware software. It’s your job to keep it up to date too, as it may stop working or not support your machine. Once you have the right software installed, this will alert you of any threats and stop hackers from gaining access to your personal information.
If you’re not using a browser that has incognito mode, it’s time to change what you’re doing. Although you won’t have as much protection as you would with a VPN, using incognito mode is still a great way to stop things like form information from being stored on your computer. Also, you may be surprised at how much personal data hackers can retrieve from you just by what you’ve got stored in your cache.
The last thing you want is for cybercriminals to know your name, where you live, and your mobile number, but they can also find out other things like your national insurance number. If you have any doubts about VPNs, it’s a good idea to start by using incognito mode on your devices.
Whatever gaming website you choose to play on, they should all have privacy policies in place that explain what data the site collects, what they do with it, as well as what protection they provide to players to ensure their data is kept safe and secure. You should always stick with websites that do not collect your personal data. While it may not sound like the most exciting task to do, taking thirty minutes before playing to read through the gaming website’s privacy policy will give you more confidence and trust in the company and help ensure you get the ultimate gaming experience.
One simple and effective way of keeping your personal data safe is by picking a strong password for your gaming account. Sadly, too many players in the past have used obvious passwords that cybercriminals have no trouble accessing. Make sure that any passwords you use for your gaming pleasure are unique, with a variety of uppercase and lowercase letters as well as symbols and numbers.
Should you use the same password for your online banking or social media, you can’t be surprised if a hacker tries to log into them too. Also, it’s wise to select two-factor authentication wherever it’s available. This will add an extra layer of protection to your gaming account. If you have trouble remembering passwords, you may benefit from using software from a trustworthy provider that can remember them for you.
Although it may sound like an obvious tip, you’ll be surprised how many online gamers share personal information with strangers without realising. Any information you pass over can easily be traced to you and put you in a vulnerable position. Whatever games you enjoy playing on, if you build friendships with other users, you need to have your wits about you and remember that you don’t truly know who is on the other side of the screen.
Make sure not to have your real name as your username and be careful not to type it into forums or give away where you live. Sadly, hackers prey on naivety. So, to stop becoming a victim of a cyber-attack, always keep your information confidential.
While there are tons of positives that online gaming brings to the gaming community, if you’re not careful with your personal information, you run the risk of identity theft and fraud. To stop this from happening, make sure you take the tips above on board, as they’ll protect your privacy when online gaming.
This is a paid guest post.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
