Another intimidating issue is ‘swatting,’ an extremely dangerous prank that involves falsely reporting a serious incident at someone’s home, leading to an unwarranted police response.
To combat these online security threats, game developers and publishers utilize a combination of sophisticated software solutions and educational resources. Read on to understand how various gaming providers implement measures to ensure your online safety.
Reverse Engineering Protection
Unethical developers often break down a game’s code and use it to create a clone game. Angry Birds and Candy Crush Saga are two of the most popular mobile games affected by this problem.
Reverse engineering is a form of theft because it takes away profits and customers from the developer. It can also damage a game’s reputation if a clone is infected with malware.
Due to that, developers use a series of techniques to fight this problem. They will often obfuscate code to make it difficult to break down. Also, they use anti-tampering tools that prevent others from modifying a game.
Another way publishers protect a game from cloning is by encrypting the code. They use encryption tools to scramble code and make it difficult to reverse engineer.
Secure Code
Bad code is one big enabler of cloning and malware infections in online games. Surprisingly, far too many developers ignore fixing their code when players report bugs and other vulnerabilities.
In 2022, it was estimated that malware affects over 10 million mobile devices annually. A lot of hackers target smartphones because mobile gaming is the fastest-growing niche today.
Billions of people play games on their iOS and Android devices. Some of these players inadvertently install games with malware, unfortunately.
Always read reviews and do an internet search to find out if a game has any known bugs or threats. Find out whether it crashes or runs smoothly. Great developers check their code regularly to guard against hackers injecting malware into players’ devices through their games.
Random Number Generator (RNG) Software
A classic example of RNG in gaming is the loot system in role-playing games like “Diablo” or “World of Warcraft.” In these games, when a player defeats a monster or opens a treasure chest, the type, quality, and stats of the items dropped are determined by RNG.
For instance, there might be a 1% chance that a defeated boss monster drops a particular highly coveted item. Every time the monster is defeated, the game’s RNG rolls to determine if the item drops or not. Even though the probability is relatively low, the chance exists every time, leading to a suspenseful and exciting experience for the player.
RNG software also helps maintain a consistent (Return to Player) RTP rate in all sorts of games including gambling games. RTP refers to the payout rate. If you read a review of operators to view their slots and table games, you will be able to find online casinos with high RTP games. High RTP games suit conservative players.
Secure Payments
Many security threats take place during payments. Maybe a game has a flawed in-app purchasing system. As a result, hackers can conduct unauthorized purchases using stolen credentials.
Video games deal with payment issues all the time. But thanks to advancements in banking security, they’ve developed ways to secure payment procedures.
For starters, they work with secure payment companies like Visa, MasterCard, Google Pay, and PayPal. Secondly, they encrypt your data every step of the way. More importantly, they secure the payment protocols to avoid breaches as much as possible.
Securing Servers
A server breach is one of the worst things that could happen to an online game. Hackers with access to a game’s servers can do a lot of harm. They can get into an online game unexpectedly. They can take your gaming PC hostage and expose your identity.
Last year, hackers gained control of some servers used by Call of Duty: Black Ops III. This allowed them to take control of people’s gaming accounts. By doing this, they could kick you out of an online game, steal your data or corrupt your files.
The situation became so bad that some gamers began fixing the game on their own. Some streamers also encouraged their fans to avoid the Activision-owned first-person shooter game.
Call of Duty aside, Apex Legends, Minecraft, and Super Mario have also experienced similar attacks. The developers behind these games managed to eradicate potential threats early on, preventing extensive damage to their games’ reputation.
Penetration Testing
Loopholes may be found in any part of a game. Maybe a developer didn’t encrypt the relevant data adequately. Perhaps the game’s code has bugs or the network has potential security issues.
Penetration testing helps a developer know the strength or weaknesses of their game. In doing so, they can add security measures to patch the vulnerable areas.
Educating Players
Educating gamers about online threats helps mitigate the harm they can cause. Think of phishing. People fall for phishing attacks when they’re unaware of how to identify them.
Likewise, some people lose their accounts when they put their trust in strangers or skip proper security measures. Many video game developers and publishers nowadays collaborate with bloggers and influencers to educate the gaming community about online safety.
They teach new players the need to use antivirus programs on their gaming devices. They encourage them to hide their identities using VPNs and to avoid opening fishy emails.
Another common trend that can affect a player’s privacy is oversharing. Revealing personal addresses and details on social media can make you a victim of doxing or swatting.
Due to this, developers run educational blogs and videos to remind players to minimize the amount of sensitive data they share online.
Intellectual Property Protection
Besides securing game code, developers also apply for patents and trademarks to prevent competitors from creating similar games. Patents ensure that even if malicious actors manage to break down your code, they can’t legally replicate the game.
As we mentioned earlier, game cloning is a big problem in the industry. It enables the spread of malware and other online threats. It also leads to massive financial losses and can damage a brand’s reputation.
By copyrighting a game, a developer remains in control of how their game is designed and marketed. The developer can also invest more resources into the game, knowing there’s no threat of being pushed out of the market by clones.