Study finds gamer cyber hygiene stinks

frogboy

In memoriam 1961-2018
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Jun 9, 2013
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As online gaming grows in popularity ESET researchers found that cybersecurity measures haven't kept pace as 36 percent gamers reported actively turning off security software if they found it was slowing down their computer.

The study, conducted by Google Consumer Surveys, polled 500 gamers and found that 52 percent of respondents said they don't even use security software on their gaming computers, according to a Sept. 13 blog post.

Gamers stated numerous reasons for their lack cybersecurity hygiene with 20 percent saying they don't need it, 13 percent saying they don't like they pop ups, 12 percent saying it slowed down their computers, and eight percent saying that it interrupts their gaming experience.

Researchers warn whenever security settings are disabled, users run the risk of malware stealing their login credentials and using gaming accounts for malicious activity which could lead to the legitimate user getting banned from the gaming platform for someone else's actions.

The stolen accounts could be used for botting, item farming, and other activities without the account owner's knowledge.

Full Article. Study finds gamer cyber hygiene stinks
 

Atlas147

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Jul 28, 2014
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Hopefully the people that answered the surveys meant that they turn off security while playing the games and turn it back on after. Personally I find that while gaming there is very little that can happen to you because you're not browsing the net or downloading files, you're basically playing files that are already in the computer. On top of that, games that have online multiplayer aspects of it would also have game guards to deter hacking and malicious actions. So far I haven't heard of any hacker bypassing this mechanic and pushing malware onto gamer's systems through games
 

artek

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May 23, 2014
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Kind of silly. I haven't even seen any kind of malware hit my browser in years. Every time I install some kind of security software I always run into some kind of problem with it, where it becomes more of a hassle to use it then to go without. If you keep your software up to date, and you're not downloading ventrilo.exe from some random person on steam, you won't get infected at all.
 
O

Omnipotent

What's good about ESET is that it has its own 'Gamer Mode' feature which once enabled - Disables pop-up windows, updates, scheduled tasks and decreases CPU usage. I however have it set to automatically enable itself once ESET detects a full-screen application running, this is useful for gaming or watching YouTube videos, no interruptions, more FPS, stable ping.
 
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Tempnexus

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Nov 25, 2015
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I am the opposite. I am a gamer and my security is up to the wazoo. If and that is a big IF I turn off security to game then I make certain that I am running in Shadow Mode and reboot right after I finish gaming.
 

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