How to secure your online game account - 2

In Part 1, I discussed some of the basics of securing your online game account. Here, I show some tips to enhance security.

Since most online games played here in the Philippines are done on Internet Cafes, most of the tips below are for café players (where, sadly, most of the hacks and scams are

Anyway, here are some preventive measures on how you can secure your account:

1. BE WARY WHEN IN A CAFE. Only play in a café that your trust. Ask around if there were incidents of hacking in a café you plan to play with. And also inquire about what security systems are installed in the PCs so that you can be positive that you’re playing in a “clean” café and limit your worries.
2. DONT SHARE YOUR PASSWORDS. Be VERY VERY paranoid about your passwords. Don't share it to ANYONE. Even if he is your GuildMaster or close online friend. Only you and God must know your password!
3. BE SMART IN YOUR PASSWORDS. Avoid simple passwords like "cute_me" or "joker". Brute-force hacking tools use the dictionary. If possible, use combinations of both uppercase, lowercase letters and numbers. Here’s an online resource on how to make strong passwords.
4. AVOID PLAYING IN CAFES WITH AUTO TIME-OUT. There are some Internet Cafes with a “time-out” feature. More often than not, your account is still logged on while your PC is ‘locked’ by the café software. If this happens to you in the middle of game, politely tell the café owner to let you log out of your account first before paying and checking out of the café.
5. SCAN YOUR PC FIRST BEFORE PLAYING. Most Cafés will have an anti-virus or spyware scanning tool. Simply ask the Café Manager to scan the PC for you.
6. CHANGE PASSWORDS REGULARLY. Make it a healthy habit to change passwords regularly. Doing so will keep those hackers and keyloggers off your tracks. Trust me, taking a few seconds away from your game time to change your password every other day will go a long way towards securing your account. Remember to ALSO change your e-mail passwords. Sometimes hackers can also ‘keylog’ your e-mail (or instant messenger account) that contains the passwords sent by the game company. If you’re gonna change your password, do it from home or a separate, secure PC.
7. DELETE YOUR ‘CHANGE PASSWORD SUCCESFUL’ E-MAIL CONFIRMATION. Whenever you change your password, memorize it. Then open your e-mail to delete the password confirmation e-mail from the game company.
8. HAVE A LOW ONLINE/OFLINE PROFILE. As much as you’d like to show off your Safety Rings, +10 Immune Mufflers, Mjolnirs or Slotted Sunglasses to all your friends, please avoid doing so. This will make you prime targets for hackers. It's merely a matter of time before they take note of where you were sitting in café and do their evil work. Sometimes they use the video function of cellphones to spy on you. So, beware!
9. HAVE RECORDS. Always take regular screenshots of your characters and items. This will serve as your evidence in case you do get hacked. Just press “Print Screen” (and your files will be on C:\ Program Files\Gravity\RagnarokOnline\Screenshots if you play Ragnarok, for example) If you play on a café, you can email the files to yourself or save it on a virtual harddrive like Yahoo Briefcase
10. GET A SECURE BROWSER - I prefer Firefox for added security (see the right column on how you can get your copy)
    
    

In case the dreaded thing happens, report it as soon as possible. Most game companies have a centralized hotline or online customer care system. For Level Up, it’s simply http://www.levelupsupport.ph/

If you have any other tips that you think might help our dear readers and fellow MMO players, do comment and share them below.

Many thanks!

GM T