How safe is your video gaming data?

Video gaming website The Escapist has reported that the game developer Crytek, best known for its Crysis series, has taken a number of websites offline following a security breach. The incident is believed to have occurred on Saturday 3rd August, with the company alerting gamers via an email stating that, "We recently became aware of suspicious activity relating to some of Crytek's websites, and acted quickly to take those websites offline for security reasons." Account holders at crydev.net and mycrysis.com are being urged to change their password, as Crytek has acknowledged that user information may have been stolen.

 

This is the latest in a string of high profile hack attacks on game designers and developers. Just last month, Assassin’s Creed developer Ubisoft had its Uplay service violated. The company claimed that no user data, including passwords and payment information, was obtained, but still advised players to change their login details. Around the same time, Venture Beat confirmed with Metal Gear Solid publisher Konami that over 35,000 player accounts had been illegally accessed, with hackers apparently launching 4 million attempts at compromising data in the space of a month. Konami announced afterwards that the company had strengthened its security to ensure this will not happen again, but with so many instances of successful hacks on a number of different companies, questions are still being asked as to why information was so vulnerable in the first place. 

 

With digital sales of games soaring, more and more people are opting to pay directly on services like Valve’s Steam service, and at console stores like Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Nintendo’s eShop. At the moment, it seems like these companies may have the advanced technology necessary to create high-quality games, but haven't paid nearly enough attention to protecting their customers' personal information online. 

 

If you have concerns about the defence systems in place on your computer, you can try using a VPN service. The VPN works as an additional layer of security that stands between the data stored on your devices and any individual or group trying to access it.