No company is fully resistant to cyber attacks, especially if they’re not taking enough measures to secure its digital ecosystem. But in recent months, hackers have increasingly targeted gaming companies and their customer data. 

At the beginning of July this year, one of the most famous game publishers, Bandai Namco, confirmed that it had fallen victim to a ransomware attack. The company is a publisher of popular games like Pac-Man, Tekken, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and more.

According to Bandai Namco’s statement, the threat actor behind the attack breached the company’s internal systems in Asia, excluding Japan. While Bandai Namco didn’t disclose the attacker’s identity, VX-underground suggested it was a BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware gang.

As a result of the attack, customer information related to the Toys and Hobby Business in the Asian regions was compromised. While employee, user, and other business-related data were likely compromised, the attack did not affect the game’s source code. Bandai Namco has publicly stated that it will continue to investigate the case and will share the investigation results with the public. Additionally, the company confirmed that it would continue to work with external organizations to improve its security.

Soon after the Bandai Namco incident, the company behind Roblox, one of the most popular games on the market, also came under a similar attack. Internal documents of Roblox Corporation as well as user data leaked online. The compromised data included email addresses and other personal information on some of the platform’s most popular creators.

According to Vice, the hacker who obtained the internal documents presented extortion demands to Roblox Corporation, which the company declined. Furthermore, when speaking with Vice, the Roblox Representative stated that since these internal documents were obtained illegally, the company refused to cooperate with the group behind the ransomware attack. 

Following the attacks, the Roblox team hired independent cyber security consultants to aid their regular security team.

Ransomware attacks in the gaming community are nothing new, but both cases highlighted here are industry giants, making this trend so concerning.

Also, Read This: How Financial Institutions Can Enhance Their Data Security

What’s the Solution?

If this trend is any indication, the ransomware attacks on big gaming companies will only get more frequent. Therefore, it is evident that the entire gaming community needs to up its security measures and invest in cyber-safety, including the companies and games. Here are some of the most effective ways to protect yourself from similar data breaches and ransomware attacks. 

Limit the Data Access

One way to ensure that your safety won’t be compromised in case of a similar attack on your favorite gaming publisher is to limit data access. Unfortunately, if you look into your current data access settings, you’ll find that you are handing over much more information than necessary for the optimal gaming experience. 

If you want to avoid your personal information being leaked through one of the data breaches similar to the ones described above, limit the data access and only share what’s essential for the game. In that case, you won’t have much to worry about, even if a breach occurs.

Use a VPN

Every time you go online without connecting to a VPN server, you are exposing yourself to various kinds of cyber attacks. Whether you’re browsing the web or playing a game online, it’s essential to hide your IP address to ensure privacy online. When you use a VPN server, it reroutes your connection through a secure tunnel, concealing your IP address and making you private online. This way, no one can tie your online activity back to you.

If you’re concerned about the VPN slowing down your connection, getting the fastest VPN can secure your IP address while also maintaining the connection speed, so there is really no excuse to be without a VPN service.

Create Strong Passwords

Ransomware attacks and other cyber threats aren’t always connected to elaborate technology created by hackers. Sometimes these attacks happen because people reuse weak passwords that are easy to crack. To ensure your accounts won’t be compromised, have different passwords for each account and try making them difficult to guess. 

There is still no silver bullet that would stop all cyber-threats from ever happening again. But using these tips will ensure that you are doing everything you can to avoid falling victim to ransomware or other types of attacks and exposing your private details on the internet.

Next, Read: Best Practices for Building a Cybersecurity Compliance Plan




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