According to data from Kaspersky Lab, a vendor of endpoint protection solutions, there are 4.6 million pieces of gaming-focused malware, with an average, users of 34,000 attacks related to gaming malware taking place daily. The same source indicates that Russian gamers were the worst hit of all, as hackers made 8.813.050 attempts on them throughout 2013. Vietnam ranked second with 503.947, followed by China on 376.058.
Underground forums are ridden with cybercrooks selling access to people’s gaming accounts, such as the portal and marketplace Steam. The market for usernames and passwords is fuelled by attacks on the gaming companies themselves.
Kaspersky Lab detected a major espionage campaign on a range of massively multiplayer online games makers, with source code and other valuable data stolen.
Then there are typical scams, like phishing. Slews of emails are sent around every time a big gaming launch happens, and at Christmas, attempting to lure users into handing over data or money with the promise of discounts or cheap gaming goods.
Kaspersky advised gamers not to click through on offers that look too good to be true, whether from their inbox or on social networks like Facebook or Twitter.
It also urged them to use strong and varied passwords across gaming accounts, and use a good quality antivirus application.
In recent news, Kaspersky Lab has revealed plans to develop a new targeted solution, dubbed Safe Money for Banks, which will enable banks and other financial institutions to protect their online customers from financial cyber – attacks.
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