Playing games online or by streaming is easy and fun but even if one thinks the game may be free, hidden costs can be forced on the player after having commenced playing, BEE Secure warned in announcing their “Clever Cloud User” campaign.

Cloud Gaming has become the newest trend in video games as hundreds of games become available to anyone with Internet access. There are three main ways to enjoy cloud gaming: one can either stream the games online, download the game from online stores in order to play the game either online or offline, or play the game online (these games have cloud features incorporated in them as a backup management).

The danger with these kinds of games, as opposed to games bought in a shop, is that if playing "freemium" games there might be hidden (extra) costs that are charged via micro transactions to the credit card registered for the used device. BEE Secure has advised any parent worried over children using their device to disable in-app purchases.

Another danger is the misuse or vulnerability of any personal information such as banking information, name, e-mail address and more, that might be required to access the game. If the account or computer is hacked then the information can be leaked online. The information given may also shared commercially by the publisher of the game to its partners.

BEE Secure has also urged the users of cloud games to use long and complex passwords that are hard to guess, as well as to report if any site asks for double authentication as this could indicate an attempt to access the users' accounts. They also note the risk of downloading games outside official online shops as such code could contain malicious software and corrupt files on the device used. The dangers of malicious code/software also applies to downloading "mods" (modified parts of a game or upgrades) or additional content, and BEE Secure has advised users to check the reliability of teh source and to be wary of extensions with “.exe” attached. They have also warned against flash games (computer games that are played online using a web browser) since the sites that hosts such games may be hiding malware in their code that may, in turn, infect vunerable devises. BEE Secure has advised gamers and device owners to always install proposed updates.

For more information see www.bee-secure.lu/cloud.