Online Gaming Could Be Threatening the Safety of Your Computer

Online gaming is something that just becomes more and more popular. A survey was conducted in June of 2010 by Nielsen NetView about Internet usage. It was discovered that the time that individuals spend playing online games has overtaken the time that individuals spend on their e-mail. The only other thing that consumes more individual's time when they use the Internet is social networking sites. According to the survey, U.S. citizens spend more than 407 million hours of time per year gaming online.

Unfortunately, Nielsen NetView is not the only one that has taken notice of this trend. Cybercriminals have recognized this latest time consumer for Americans as well. They have not only recognized but they have also begun to infect gaming websites. Anything from a legitimate forum and tutorial assistance site to a sketchier download site could possibly infect your computer.

Obviously not every site is infected with some sort of virus, but it is necessary to be careful and to be aware of the possibility of a hacker. Ondrej Vlcek, chief technical officer of the Czech security company Avast, said, “As the gaming industry continues to grow, hackers will inevitably develop more ways to target this massive group.” Avast is an antivirus supplier that constantly gathers data about infected websites. Every month they release a “Most Wanted List” that reveals the very worst sites currently on the Web. On October 6th Avast released their riskiest gaming websites so that customers could be warned before their computer becomes infected. Here is the list:

• Gamesfactoryinteractive.com
• Games-digest.com
• Mariogamesplay.com
• Anywhere-games.com
• Galacticflashgames.com
• Towerofdefense.com

Avast recommends a few simple things to keep your computer from being infected while you are gaming online. One important thing is to make sure that you keep all of your apps and antivirus programs up-to-date. You should also make sure not to turn off your antivirus program while you are playing online games. It can be annoying to have an antivirus program running when you’re playing a game, but you can switch over to your antivirus gaming function so that you can play uninterrupted. One last tip is that you should be extremely careful when downloading games via warez sites because they are known for spreading malware.

Viruses are a huge deal. It is definitely something that you don’t want to have to deal with on your computer. With just a few simple precautionary steps, you can make sure that your computer is safe from threats, and you can still enjoy your online games. Don’t give up your online gaming. Just be smart and safe, and your computer should be just fine.

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Free Online Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Adventure

Robert Ripley has been an intriguing figure to the public for years. His legacy is remembered through Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums, books, TV and radio shows. Soon there will be another way to experience and appreciate the world of Ripley…through online gaming.

This June there will be a brand new free online adventure puzzle game called Zon8. The game will take players through the fictitious warehouse of Robert Ripley. You must collect a variety of clues, discover artifacts, and solve puzzles throughout the game.

Now even though this is a free online game, there are prizes that can be won. The first 50 players to finish will all receive some sort of prize. The first 10 players to finish the game will receive a unique prize, a custom made shrunken head that was created by Ripley’s F/X department specifically for the game. Only 10 have been made for the game, and they are the only ones in existence. Those who finish in spots 11 through 30 will receive a copy of the Ripley book, “In Search of the Shrunken Head,” and finishers 31 to 50 will win a copy of the Ripley book, “Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Seeing is Believing.”

The game is set to launch the week of June 28th, but it does not yet have a specific start day. To receive of notice of when exactly the game will start, players must sign up for the game.

2Advanced Studios designed this online game. The company is known for pushing creative boundaries to deliver wonderful media masterpieces, so there is much to be expected from this interactive game that is supposed to take between 6-8 hours.

I thought that this online game was a very intriguing idea from the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! team. If you’re looking for something to do towards the end of June, it might be something to check out. It’s free, sounds fun, and you could even win a prize. Sign up if you want to be notified about when the game starts up.

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