A recent Global Games Market Report by Newzoo, it indicated that gamers worldwide will generate a total revenue of $99.6 billion by 2016. As this humongous amount of profits goes to game developers, cybercriminals are hoping gain unethical profit as well.
Making purchases online has now become bigger than ever. With advancements in technologies, internet connectivity & ease of online payments worldwide, consumers now have instant access almost anything, groceries, to flowers, mobile phones, lunch, plumbing service, transportation and so many more.
In a recent Global Games Market Report by Newzoo, it indicated that gamers worldwide will generate a total revenue of $99.6 billion in revenues before the end of 2016. Additionally 37% of revenue generated are by mobile gamers only. With the recent super-success of Pokemon Go by Niantic earning over $200 million within one month of its release, it is without a doubt that we'll easily achieve the $99.6 billion mark or probably surpass it.
As this humongous amount of profits goes to game developers all over the world, another group of people (who mostly aren't game developers), are looking to get a cut from the estimated profits in an unethical manner. In other words, I am talking about cybercriminals.
In the past year, cybercriminals has costed businesses as much as $100 Billion. This includes money lost from the damage itself and subsequent disruption to the normal course of developers. Widening their scope of victims, cybercriminals are targeting both game publishers & gamers as well.
Assecessing consumers' concern on cybersecurity on both PC & mobile, a recent survey noted consumers still have concerns on the security of online payments too:
62% still fear financial fraud on the internet
49% or participants worldwide still encountered feeling of vulnerability regarding online transactions
42% expressed that they were more likely to utilize online payment solutions if they felt they were protected from cybersecurity threats
37% have admitted to terminating a financial operation midway due to lack of faith in the security of the transaction
So what can be done now? While anti-virus, game & other tech developers are looking for solutions, consumers themselves needs to ensure that all online activities are conducted in the most safe manner possible. Some simple tips to educate / remind consumers:
Shop ONLY at secure sites / platforms
Look out for secure sites beginning with: https://. The S in the link would mean the site utilizes a secure server that protects your information from hackers.
Never use the same password for your game platform, bank & social media accounts
Sounds pretty basic? Yes, but often a neglected aspect even by Mark Zuckerberg. Don't use easy-to-guess passwords such as your birth-date, name or even stuff like "qwerty". Create smart passwords by incorporating figures, symbols, upper and lower case letters.
Never conduct transaction activities over public / unsecured WiFi
Trust us, as much as you enjoy free WiFi, stay away from it when doing activities like accessing your bank accounts or making online purchases.
Any more tips you can think of to educate consumers? Let me know in the comments section ;)
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