AHQ Archive: Online Security Newsletter - December 2023

EA_Spectre

Community Admin

14 days ago

Welcome to the second edition of AHQ Online Security Newsletter.

This month, we're focusing on the importance of privacy settings and how to maintain a secure online presence. We encourage you to participate in the tasks that we've prepared for you. We have prepared two tasks for you this month:

a quiz to test the knowledge you've gained from this and the previous month's newsletter,
and a separate, more advanced task for those seeking a challenge.

Nothing should stop you from participating in both tasks!

If you happened to miss out on our previous newsletter, no worries! You can catch up right here:

Answers HQ Online Security Newsletter - November - Answer HQ

Thanks and Happy New Year!

edit 18/01/24

@EA_Kuba wrote:

Hey everyone!

A bit later than usual, but I wanted to let you know that everyone who participated (or will participate) in this month's newsletter, will receive a unique forum badge!

Security focus - Online Privacy

Understanding the importance of privacy

Interacting with other players while playing online is an essential part of any online game. While playing online, we can exchange tips, game experiences, or just talk. It is crucial to maintain your privacy by refraining from sharing any private information that could lead to your identification during text or voice chats.
Secure your account

Maintaining strong passwords is as crucial as being careful during online interactions. They serve as your primary defense against unauthorized access to your data. To enhance security, it's important to frequently update your passwords and ensure they are complex enough. If you wish to evaluate your password's strength, you can do so using the following website: https://passwordmeter.com. Additionally, using password managers can be a viable option for password management and security.
Do not share your private information with others

Providing only your name during interaction is not a bad thing. However, sharing personal details alongside your name might make you susceptible to social engineering attacks. It is worth being careful with whom and what information we share while playing. It is also advisable to review the privacy settings on your EA account to ensure control over the information that other players can see about you.

Beware of phishig

Phishing is a social engineering attack that aims to deceive you into providing sensitive information about yourself. Phishing can take many forms, such as email or telephone calls. A phishing attack can also be carried out via in-game chats. In the last newsletter, we covered this topic by providing information on how to recognize phishing and how to protect yourself from it. Make sure to check it out.

@ElliotLH tip to help identify which companies might be selling your information if you start receiving unsolicited emails.

(...)

My one is more for spam handling but figured it could be useful for security still: if you use Gmail or Outlook, add a "+" and the name of the site to your email when registering on websites.

E.G emailaddress+companyname@

Not only can this be helpful with filtering your inbox, if your details from that company are exposed (or sold, as some less than reputable companies do) and you start receiving spam to that email address, you'll know something has gone wrong straight away.

Edit: Added Outlook too as @SharpGoblin mentioned that works as well, which it does.