A worrying trend in new computer games has led to a quarter of gamers being infected with harmful viruses after being forced to turn off their internet security.
New games such as SimCity and Diablo III have been slammed for only working when they are connected to the internet – leading computers open to potentially harmful viruses that could steal the users’ bank details.
A quarter of gamers have been infected with viruses after turning their security off to play games online, study shows.
Despite just under half of the gamers polled claiming to be internet security-savvy, over 40 per cent claim that they wouldn’t be able to identify any of the viruses typically created to target them and a quarter never make the effort to find out.
Protection against viruses and identity-stealing malware is more vital than ever, but a staggering 31 per cent of those polled admit they disable security on their PC before playing online games, to avoid irritating popups and lag.
Quinton Watts, a manager at top computer security company ESET, said: “It’s evident that gamers are not protecting themselves sufficiently and are unaware of the risk of playing online without protection – and as more and more titles require a constant Internet connection, that’s a real worry.
“We’re in an age where cyber-attacks can be detrimental to a person’s identity security and gamers, savvy as they may be, put themselves at risk far more than they need to.”
ESET will be installing all PCs being used in the upcoming Insomnia48 cyber-games tournament with their latest antivirus software, specifically designed to cause no disruption for gamers.
The StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm tournament has attracted some of the most talented competitive gamers from around the world, who will be taking part in the £10,000 grand finals at the Telford International Centre from 22nd – 24th March.
