Malware attacks increase against video games

 

11.04.2009 9:17 am

Malware attacks increase against video games

By David Sheets

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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If marketing executive Michael Helander over at Lavasoft is correct, malware makers are salivating over your gaming console.

Helander was interviewed by GamePro regarding his company’s new software designed to protect online gamers from virus attacks, and in the Q&A published Tuesday he claimed these kinds of attacks have increased more than 600 percent in the past year.

That’s one of those huge, shocking numbers gamers can’t grasp unless there are virtual gold or game points attached. But in fact, that’s exactly what makes gaming so lucrative to malware makers.

“Virtual characters and virtual objects have taken on value in the real world where they can be bought and sold for real money,” Helander told GamePro. “A thriving underground black market demonstrates that a significant amount of people are prepared to pay for them.”

The games most often targeted he says are “Lord of the Rings,” “Maple Story,” “RuneScape,” “ZodiacOnline,” and the granddaddy of them all, “World of Warcraft,” to name a few. Once a player’s credits are lost from theft, it can be almost impossible to recover them even after appeals to game administrators.

“As a further consequence of the hacking, the account can also get suspended, which might prevent the player from playing the game for a time” and run the risk of exclusion from gaming groups, Helander added.

Take a look at the rest of the article and consider yourself warned, however don’t consider Game Guy’s mention of Lavasoft here as any kind of endorsement. You should take care to protect your property online, but shop around a little before committing to any brand.