Online gaming is one of the most popular pastimes worldwide with a vibrant and friendly community. While some use online gaming to connect with like-minded people or just enjoy their free time, other players use their advanced technical skills to attack fellow gamers and their progress. Most recently, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on players have spiked, which can temporarily cripple one’s computer, making it impossible for people to keep playing the game. Here’s everything you need to know about DDoS attacks that can affect your online gaming and how to protect yourself from them.
What is a DDoS attack?
The DDoS attack is one of the most popular ways to make the target’s device unusable, at least for some time. DDoS attacks disrupt the computer networks and impair the connection speed. These attacks overload the network and its surrounding infrastructure by directing internet traffic at the server from multiple locations at once. As a result, the site usually shuts down as it can’t handle the influx of traffic. Additionally, the legitimate traffic also can’t come through in the process as the website is drowning in request data from the attack. Often DDoS attacks are orchestrated through compromised computers and devices. Hackers just need to signal these devices and instruct them to send bots toward the target’s IP address. DDoS can block access to servers, devices, services, applications, transactions, and networks.
How does a DDoS attack affect gamers?
You may wonder why some people would even consider attacking an online gaming server. Some people just want to do some damage. When under a DDoS attack, the server you are playing at won’t function properly as the server will be overwhelmed with all the fake traffic directed at it through the DDoS. A DDoS attack can make it impossible for you to play the game, and it may even lead to you losing all your progress. While it may be hard to fathom why someone would take the time to ruin other people’s gaming experience, the reality is that it happens more often than one might think. This is why staying safe online and protecting yourself from this sort of cyber threat is essential, even for those who just use the internet to play games.
How to prevent DDoS attacks?
DDoS has been a widespread problem in cyberspace for a while. Corporations, governments, and other powerful entities deal with DDoS attacks despite having dedicated cyber security teams. So it is not surprising that some gamers would use it against individual players who are just trying to have a good time. There isn’t a silver bullet that will guarantee the prevention of DDoS attacks 100% of the time, but there are specific steps you can take to minimize the chances of falling victim to these kinds of schemes.
While big corporations may have unlimited resources to guarantee their cyber security, single players don’t usually have that luxury. Instead, they depend on more accessible tools that are entirely sufficient for protecting one individual. A solid VPN is one of the best tools for people who want protection from DDoS attacks. Some premium VPNs even offer additional tools to protect you. For example, NordVPN has a feature called Threat protection, which neutralizes cyber threats before they can do any real damage to your device.
VPNs hide your actual IP address by rerouting your connection through one of their secure servers. This way, when you go online, instead of the actual IP address, they will see the IP address of the VPN company. They may try to attack the VPN’s servers, but the best VPN companies will have solid enough security systems in the palace that the attackers won’t be able to infiltrate the server. If you want to avoid the dangers of falling victim to a DDoS attack, the best thing to do is invest in a VPN subscription and connect to a secure server every time you go online to play games.
DDoS attacks are here to stay and will likely continue to affect gamers worldwide. While you can’t guarantee that you won’t be affected by DDoS attacks, you can strengthen your cyber safety by investing in a VPN and concealing your IP address to avoid further complications.