Protecting User Accounts in Online Gaming

Hackers break into everything these days. From Small and Medium Business web games, to online gaming monoliths, to entire networks. User accounts are scattered across the Internet, waiting for the next hacker to catch them with their pants down.

Players and game companies, I'm here to tell you how to zip up your fly. After years of fraud prevention at Atlus Online, Newegg.com, and Buy.com, I've learned the ins-and-outs of these hacking hoodlums. They are constantly looking for new ways to profit from selling user accounts.

Recently, more than 11,000 accounts were compromised on a popular gaming portal. With more than 50% of those online gamers engaging in virtual goods and services trading, that's more than 5,000 accounts nailed in one hacker's hit-and-run. Online gaming transactions include direct transfers, in-game mail, and in-game trading. So here's what you need to know to stay protected.As a player, you can guard an account from Internet invasion with these five easy steps:

1. Educate yourself on the latest trends through the forums, in-game announcements, social media, and other players.
2. Don't share your account information with anyone, including your brother, cat, or on other websites.
3. Report all illicit behavior immediately to your game provider.
4. Install anti-virus software.
5. Play games with companies that have strong back-end tools, such as TeleSign's phone authentication. When a company integrates solutions to protect a your identity, you can play with peace of mind.

Since an account is more than just an avatar and gear—it is a time investment, a monetary investment, and a place for you to find satisfaction—it's imperative to keep your eye on the ball with your own personal security.

As a company, using TeleSign 2FA is just what you need to prevent angryface players from lashing back with those dreaded chargebacks. Make sure your tools can fight all forms of hacks:

• Key Loggers: Trojans and malicious software that track the keys struck on a keyboard.
• Brute Force: Software that cracks a security code. We're familiar with this bad boy.
• User Error: Users click bad links, share account info with bad people, and stay logged in.
• Hackers: Experts in crime target a gaming portal and exploit its weaknesses.

So let's protect game accounts from the dark and unknown. Players and companies have to step up their game if games are going to stay secure on the Internet. You can count on eCommerce and online gaming fraud experts like me—but you also have to count on making the right call. What's your next move? Feel free to email me if you'd like advice or have questions. Stopping the fraudsters is my job and I happen to love it.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici, FreeDigitalPhotos.net