Information Security in Game Development
As can be seen by tuning into any modern news media outlet, information security is an international concern. Unfortunately, one area that is often left out of the security conversation is the video game industry. The general consumer base rarely hears about security standards when it comes to game development, and it is hit or miss from one game to the next as to whether there is security in place to protect the machine and network it is being played on. (Mohr & Rahman, 2011)
Nevertheless, a handful of users are aware of the security issues inherent in modern technology. Yet, the few that are knowledgeable about the situation have a lack of confidence in most game developer’s ability to keep their information …show more content…
Accordingly, there are privacy concerns both from the gaming industry’s point of view and from the customer side that will need to be addressed.
Pirated Games
The entire climate of game piracy is ripe for security infractions. Aside from the legal issue with pirating games off the Internet from unknown sources, violators can also end up getting crippling malware infections along with or completely in the place of the video game they were attempting to illegally acquire. Even some black hat malware developers look down on pirates, and so they’ll upload malware under the guise of a newly leaked game title in order to exact some form of vigilante justice, or just that they think pirates are easy targets.
Digital Rights Management
The prevalence of piracy that companies now must deal with have led game industry giants to seek out forms of DRM that they hope will protect their intellectual property. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work out to the benefit of all involved, and some DRM has been incredibly …show more content…
Several of them can be done on the client-side of the situation, but some actions need to be taken by contemporary developers in order to cover the bases as universally as possible. (Rea, 2011)
Considering Risks
When a user is browsing around looking for games it would be best to consider the source. It is not difficult to do a quick search engine query on a website that houses a certain game a user wants to play to ensure the company and the site URL is legitimate. Today in modern computer gaming, there are numerous legitimate hubs where most games can be acquired safely, such as Steam, GOG or even the Microsoft Store on newer Windows 8+ machines.
Considering social media integration, it is thankfully almost always optional. Until standards regarding the integration are at least semi-universal and accepted as safe, it may be pertinent to avoid the use of them. However, if a user desires to use these features they can alleviate their security risk by ensuring no volatile personal information is linked to the social media account in question. Some users may even want to create separate social media accounts that they use exclusively for
As can be seen by tuning into any modern news media outlet, information security is an international concern. Unfortunately, one area that is often left out of the security conversation is the video game industry. The general consumer base rarely hears about security standards when it comes to game development, and it is hit or miss from one game to the next as to whether there is security in place to protect the machine and network it is being played on. (Mohr & Rahman, 2011)
Nevertheless, a handful of users are aware of the security issues inherent in modern technology. Yet, the few that are knowledgeable about the situation have a lack of confidence in most game developer’s ability to keep their information …show more content…
Accordingly, there are privacy concerns both from the gaming industry’s point of view and from the customer side that will need to be addressed.
Pirated Games
The entire climate of game piracy is ripe for security infractions. Aside from the legal issue with pirating games off the Internet from unknown sources, violators can also end up getting crippling malware infections along with or completely in the place of the video game they were attempting to illegally acquire. Even some black hat malware developers look down on pirates, and so they’ll upload malware under the guise of a newly leaked game title in order to exact some form of vigilante justice, or just that they think pirates are easy targets.
Digital Rights Management
The prevalence of piracy that companies now must deal with have led game industry giants to seek out forms of DRM that they hope will protect their intellectual property. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work out to the benefit of all involved, and some DRM has been incredibly …show more content…
Several of them can be done on the client-side of the situation, but some actions need to be taken by contemporary developers in order to cover the bases as universally as possible. (Rea, 2011)
Considering Risks
When a user is browsing around looking for games it would be best to consider the source. It is not difficult to do a quick search engine query on a website that houses a certain game a user wants to play to ensure the company and the site URL is legitimate. Today in modern computer gaming, there are numerous legitimate hubs where most games can be acquired safely, such as Steam, GOG or even the Microsoft Store on newer Windows 8+ machines.
Considering social media integration, it is thankfully almost always optional. Until standards regarding the integration are at least semi-universal and accepted as safe, it may be pertinent to avoid the use of them. However, if a user desires to use these features they can alleviate their security risk by ensuring no volatile personal information is linked to the social media account in question. Some users may even want to create separate social media accounts that they use exclusively for