Welcome to Nosy Eye. We give you the spicy details of what you need to know about safeguarding your privacy.

The Risky Business of Online Gaming

Online gaming brings people together from all over the world, creating a pretty cool global community of gamers.

However, while it can be a lot of fun, it also comes with risks. One of which is the collection of your IP address by other players who might not like you (doesn’t take much).

Your IP address is your unique online identifier, and once someone has it, they can use it to launch a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack or harass you online.

A DDoS attack is when a bunch of computers or devices try to connect to a website or service all at once. This overwhelms it with traffic causing it to crash.

It's like if too many people try to use a single door at once. No one gets in. No one gets out.

DDoS attacks are a trusted go-to for disrupting online services or extortion.

Ok, back to IP addresses. How could a fellow gamer get it? They can use a protocol analyzer like Xbox Resolver or Octosniff to obtain it without your consent.

Your IP can lead to other sensitive information about you being revealed. Your identity, physical location, and the people living at your house are just a few examples.

We’re not just talking hypotheticals here

In 2014, a group of hackers used a DDoS attack to bring down Sony's PlayStation Network, leaving millions of gamers unable to play for days.

In 2019, a Call of Duty player was swatted during a live stream, where someone called the police and falsely reported a serious crime at the player's location.

The police arrived and broke into the player's home, which was all captured on the live stream.

And this is, unfortunately, more common than it should be. The danger of doing this doesn’t deter bad-faith actors.

There have also been many reports of cyberbullying and harassment in online gaming communities. Not the kind where they just call your mother fat either.

Gamers who obtain someone's IP address can use it to harass or threaten them, even outside of the game. In some cases, this can lead to stalking or even violence.

What You Can Do

First thing you can do is use a VPN.

We talked about them last week, but as a quick reminder, VPNs encrypt your internet traffic and route it through a remote server, masking your IP address and providing you with a new one.

While it’s relatively simple to do this for your phone and computer, it’s not nearly as easy for gaming consoles.

For Sony's Playstation, there are a few options, but Microsoft's Xbox has more restricted options.

The best way to use a VPN with your gaming console is to get a router that allows you to install it.

You can then enable the VPN on the router, and then anything that connects to the router will route through the VPN destination.

This way, any person that obtains your IP address will only access your VPN IP address, keeping your actual IP address hidden.

Also, to keep your gaming experience safe and secure, be cautious about:

• Sharing personal information online

• Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication

• Keep software up to dated

• Report suspicious behavior to the game's administrators or support team.

Action Tip of the Day

Use a firewall to protect your systems. PfSense is one we recommend. But as usual, do your own research to see what works best for your set up.

Well, that’s all we have for you today. Bye, for now.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is strictly educational. Please do not use easily identifiable data online, as you do not know who is going to give it away