eSports is a rapidly increasing phenomenon that reflects the rise and influence of the digital world in our lives. While competitive gaming has been popular in Asian countries such as South Korea for some time, the desire for such a market has recently risen with innovative games such as League of Legends, Fortnite, and many others.
With this surge in popularity, cybersecurity is critical, since criminals are seeing the online gaming industry as a new target. Let’s dive into why the online gaming industry is a prime target for cybercriminals and what you can do to safeguard your experience by utilising a proxy residential.
Why is the gaming industry a target for cyberattacks?
American content delivery network and cybersecurity company Akamai recently reported that attacks on gaming companies have more than doubled over the past year. This includes findings that the gaming industry is targeted for 37% of all DDoS attacks. It’s easy to see why the gaming industry is a lucrative target for criminals, with the forecasted revenue of online games to reach over $28 million in 2023 according to Statista. Games giant EA reported a major data breach in 2021, in which 780GB of sensitive gaming data was stolen by hackers.
Although large-scale businesses are at risk of cyber attacks, individuals who play online games are also at risk. Here are a few reasons why:
- Online purchases: Targeting the gaming industry might result in significant financial advantage. As gamers are typically willing to spend money on in-game content and accessories, the gaming business is teeming with criminals attempting to defraud players with fraudulent offers.
- Security flaws: The personal and financial information of a gamer may be compromised if the game’s platform or software contains a security flaw that cybercriminals can exploit. As a result, hackers can steal important information such as credit or debit card information.
- Popularity: The gaming industry is continually attracting new players. This resource pool provides criminals with a steady stream of victims. Furthermore, because Esports is on the global stage, criminals can target players in different countries at the same time.
Types of cyberattacks the gaming industry faces
The first step to safeguarding yourself from a cyber attack is understanding what you are up against. One of the most common ways for hackers to make profit is to sell a hacked account. Your screen name, gamer tag, or handle may contain significant information such as your birth year or common nicknames. Hackers can use this type of personally identifiable information (PII) and data to locate you on data broker sites and guess your passwords for your logins all over the internet.
Console hacking is another recurring issue in the gaming industry. Once attackers have acquired access to the consoles, they can download a variety of games via software packages or additional cracking. Furthermore, once hackers gain access to the consoles, the gamer’s personal information, credit card information, account logins and passwords, and so on, might all be obtained.
DDoS attacks are also a threat in online gaming. A DDoS attack could be carried out for one of two reasons. The first reason may be to target other gamers and remove their IP addresses. It could be for financial motivation or simply bad blood. The second is to focus on game platforms and servers. A hacker might shut down game infrastructure and then demand a ransom to terminate the attack and restore the game’s functionality.
Why should you use a proxy for gaming?
A proxy serves as a go-between for the user, the internet, and the servers they wish to access. This means that the proxy essentially shields the user. By utilising a proxy, you can add an additional layer of security to your network while also concealing your personal information and IP address to ensure online anonymity. There are numerous types of proxies, each with its own set of applications. If you like to play on multiple platforms, a residential proxy that protects your entire network is a great option.
There are numerous advantages to using a proxy for gaming; here are a few you may expect when using a residential proxy.
- Protecting your location and identity: With a residential proxy, your true IP address is concealed meaning, websites, platforms, and hackers cannot see your location. You can also bypass IP bans on your location and use a residential proxy to pretend to be connecting to the internet from another country. This will also provide you with anonymity and, in turn, prevent your sensitive data, such as credit card details, from being hacked.
- Protection from DDoS attacks: DDoS attacks can also be avoided by using a proxy. A DDoS assault occurs when a network is bombarded with spam requests that use all available bandwidth, essentially putting the network to a halt. If you utilise a proxy, these requests will be sent to the proxy servers, leaving your own network undisturbed.
- Better speed: When there is a lot of traffic flowing in and out of the browser, a lot of bandwidth is consumed. Peak times occur frequently in multiplayer or peer-to-peer games. When a large number of gamers are signed in, internet connections can suffer dramatically. Proxies compress cache data and traffic. As a result, gamers can continue to enjoy fast internet speeds.
The bottom line
As the gaming industry grows, so does the amount of possible cybersecurity breaches. Cybersecurity in the gaming industry is a significant problem, but there are steps you can take, including using residential proxies, to safeguard yourself and your data from an impending attack.
Featured image: DCStudio/Motion Array
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