Creative Guide for Teachers & Parents

SUBJECT & DISCUSSION IDEA #6 - Be careful on online gaming sites

What kind of online gaming sites are you aware of?

Although online games can be fun and entertaining, your identity and personal information can be compromised if you don't exercise caution.

Online game sites have become a growing area for people to access personal information. If the wrong person obtains information about you from the profiles you create in games, they could use it to establish accounts in your name, resell it, or use it to access your existing financial accounts.

When on gaming sites:

• Be aware of having your computer in "administrator" mode. With some games, your computer will be switched to that setting automatically. This is a problem because a hacker can gain full control of your computer at the administrator level.

One way to avoid this problem is by web browsing from a "user" account - while this won't completely safeguard your computer it is safer than using administrator mode.

When gaming, it's also important to remember that firewalls are in place to help protect your computer. Playing a multiplayer game sometimes requires an exception in the rule set for the firewall. A firewall is there to protect your computer from viruses. By removing it you are making you and your information extremely vulnerable.

Discussion idea:

Think about the profiles you have created for yourself in some of the online games that you play. Have you used your full name? Your date of birth? Your address or any other personal information that might be valuable to the wrong people? Think about the people you play games with - are some of them people you don't know in real life? If one of those people was a hacker would you want them to have access to all the information you've included in your profile?