Welcome to another week of Security Awareness Month on Answers HQ!
This week, we would like to delve into the topic of Social Interaction Security Principles.
Gaming is all about interacting with other people. Even if you love playing games that are single-player, I can bet that you would love to talk about your favorite game with others. It does not matter if you are a casual or hardcore player, a streamer, or if you play games competitively. All of your interactions can leave a footprint, which in some cases might compromise your privacy or someone else’s.
There are a few things we want you to consider in relation to your social interactions in your daily gaming sessions. This would be great preparation for next week's topics where we’ll cover social engineering, like phishing.
Protect personal information.
Connecting with other people is one of the best advantages of online gaming. Many times, you can meet someone like-minded, living in the same country, or even in the same town. Although it is great to have many things in common, think twice (or thrice) before you give your personal information to anyone online. Giving your real name might be harmless, but combining it with some other personal details might put you in danger of compromising your privacy.
Mind your digital footprint.
Be aware of what you say online; this applies to both text and voice chats. Things you’ve said might be recorded by other people and used against you. A silly joke or sentence taken out of context might get you in trouble.
Be skeptical of strangers.
Remember that strangers met online might not be exactly who they claim to be. Be cautious when you meet your favorite streamer playing on their alternative account, or if you’ve accidentally joined the game and played with Geralt of Rivia himself. While it is possible, be skeptical and don’t trust everything that is said by your teammates.
Utilize privacy settings.
Use the privacy settings available on your EA account to control information visible to other players. Apart from information visible to other players, you can also change how other people can find you or interact with you. If it turns out that the recently-met witcher is not the one he is claiming to be, you can add them to the block list.
Check out our article about updating privacy settings here.
Report suspicious activity.
Whenever you come across suspicious activity, report it to us. You can find more information on how to use reporting tools at EA Help.
Be nice.
Lastly, be nice and treat others with respect. Creating a friendly environment can foster a healthy community and make harmful behaviors more visible.
Community Admin
Community Manager