Stay up to Speed with a Secure VPN for Gaming

If you’re a gamer, you may enjoy going to battle every night when you log onto your console or PC. While most online missions are fun, malicious attacks from ‘botnets’ can ruin the experience entirely. 

With billions of people gaming, the industry has seen a parallel rise in cyber criminality. Some of the security dangers include phishing, malware bots, account takeovers, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, where hackers use multiple computers to overwhelm your IP address with data traffic and paralyze your server.

In this article, we’ll explain why a VPN for gaming can help hide your IP address against player-to-player (P2P) threats, and improve your online speed and security.

What is Gaming?

Gaming is one of the most popular pastimes in the world. No matter where you live, you’ll find people playing games on their console, mobile, or PC. It’s an immersive medium, where billions of people enter fictional universes, and even non-gamers take pleasure from watching their friends play. 

An estimated 2.4 billion people now identify as gamers, forming a global community that transcends borders through the magic of underwater cables. Popular games such as Call of Duty (CoD), Fortnite, and Grand Theft Auto offer exhilarating escapism, but playing them doesn’t mean you’ll be free of everyday Internet problems.

Precision Beats Power, Timing Beats Speed

As even the slightest delay in a player’s connection can mean the difference between winning and losing, and for professional gamers, that’s an intolerable scenario. 

With Internet servers and download rates running at contrasting speeds depending on where you live, Adamantiz, a 38-year-old PC gamer, from the UK, spoke to Namecheap about the importance of connectivity: 

“A stable connection and Internet security are what gamers want, especially if you’re traveling from zone-to-zone. Recently my friend had to restart her Warcraft account when she moved from England to America.  

“She lost her characters and progress because her Internet connection didn’t carry enough speed to stop the lag disconnecting off her old server. 

“If you download a VPN, though, it can help give you a consistent connection, wherever you live, and keep the progress you’ve made on the game.”

Winning at All Costs

Gamers who stream on multiple screens require fast speeds as they’ll be uploading, downloading, and playing simultaneously. Such is the popularity of gaming it’s received 35.92% of total DDoS attacks in 2019, with botnet gangs paralyzing gamers’ servers with DDoS attacks. 

One reason for these attacks is the sheer competitiveness of some players, many of whom will go to extraordinary lengths to win.

What is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack?

A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is a deliberate attempt to disrupt your server or network with excess Internet traffic. 

Whenever hackers coordinate enough computing power and flood your IP address with streams of data, you won’t be able to play. 

In short, hackers are trying to make your device inoperable by killing your servers’ speed.

Can a VPN Stop DDoS for Individual Gamers?

DDoS attacks predominately target big gaming platforms, not individual players. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t be subject to attacks. As small-fry DDoS disruptions can slow down your game, which isn’t technically a security risk, but spoils the gaming experience. 

While no one can stop DDoS attacking your server, if you’re in a player-to-player (P2P) competition and connecting directly with other gamers, hackers can look up your IP and flood it with traffic to slow you down.

Crucially, a VPN can help you by hiding your real IP address. If hackers don’t know your IP, you’ll be less vulnerable to these types of attacks.

Who Carries Out DDoS Attacks?

DDoS attacks are often implemented by rival gamers looking to stop you from winning by intercepting and jamming your IP address. 

Ubisoft, the French video game company behind Assassin’s Creed, filed a lawsuit in California against the alleged owners of a DDoS platform. Gamers can win matches if their competitors lose their Internet connection, which has led to the rise of DDoS-for-hire services.  

These attacks are prevalent across the gaming community, especially those using a PC, but for a hacker to be successful, they’ll need your IP address, and that’s where a VPN for gaming can help.

What is a VPN?

A virtual private network (VPN) is all about privacy. It takes your Internet traffic and filters it through a secure server, keeping you anonymous online and allowing you to hide and change your IP address. 

Let’s say you’re in Austin, Texas, right now. With a VPN, you can switch your IP address to Buenos Aires and access content as if you live in Argentina. 

A VPN provides end-to-end encryption between your device and its server, so it’s harder for hackers to find you. With a VPN, your Internet traffic goes through a secure connection with another network, making your device almost impossible to track. 

Even if a hacker does manage to intercept your connection, they won’t be able to identify your real IP address, so you can switch your IP to another location and continue playing.

Why a VPN Can Help Protect Gamers

Using a VPN can help preserve your online security and not just because it keeps your IP private. Many VPN services have strict “No Logs” policies, which means they won’t record your browsing habits.  

The best VPNs offer multiple benefits for gamers, including ultra-fast buffering speeds, easy setup guides, and an encrypted Internet connection. So if you ever use public Wi-Fi, or log into a friend’s home network, you’ll have an extra layer of security on your gaming device. 

Stay Safe with a VPN

With the gaming industry growing so fast that it may reach $300 billion by 2025, there will be no shortage of cybercriminals looking to disrupt this highly lucrative industry.

As the popularity of gaming rises, so will the demands for a safe and fast connection, making a gaming-friendly VPN essential. For online games to run successfully, you’ll need a fluent Internet connection and unlimited bandwidth. What’s more, by hiding your real IP address, a VPN for gaming can help prevent hackers from flooding your server with malicious traffic.  

As when it comes to improving your online speed and security, it pays to know that you can’t have one without the other. 

If you’re a gamer and want to improve your online speed and security, you can try FastVPN free for one month.