The best anti­virus for gaming

In the past, anti­virus products slowed devices down. But things have changed. Gaming and security are not mutually exclusive anymore. F‑Secure Internet Security won Best Protection and Best Performance awards by AV-TEST in 2020 for out­standing protection that doesn’t slow you down. But do you need anti­virus soft­ware for PC gaming? Yes.

Gamers are affected by all the same online threats as every­one else, such as malware and phishing. In addition, some threats are targeted specifically at gamers. It doesn’t help that many gamers think anti­virus is detrimental to both their gaming experience and their computer’s over­all performance. In turn, many gamers are left particularly vulnerable.

It’s also worth noticing that gaming involves lots of money and personal information, which attracts criminals. In fact, gaming-related online attacks have increased especially during COVID-19 when people have had more time to spend playing games.

Below are some threats that gamers need to be aware of.

Anti­virus for gaming won’t slow your PC down, but malware will

Malware can cause lag, system crashes and all kinds of other annoying things. These threats can disturb gaming and damage computers. Anti­virus is the best way to stay safe and keep things running smoothly.

Key­loggers can steal your login credentials to online games and accounts

Keyloggers log which keys you type. They typically target pass­words and banking credentials. Losing an account is bad on its own, but even worse if it includes skins, DLC, and other valuable content. You can also lose access to your games for example in Steam and other plat­forms, if your account is stolen.

You can be tricked into installing malicious games, apps, mods, and updates

This is not exclusive to gamers, but you don’t really see many people down­loading mods or cheats for Excel. You can be tricked into down­loading basically any malware, and with­out anti­virus you might never even know it.

Gaming-specific ransom­ware is out there

Ransomware is some of the worst cyber threats. It encrypts your files and asks for payment to unlock them. Some ransom­ware is hidden within gamer-oriented content, such as files containing cheats, and all the other content mentioned in the previous section.

ID theft and impersonation can ruin a rising star

Want to be a vlogger or an e‑sports athlete? Identity theft can make things really difficult for your reputation. Personal information for identity theft can easily be stolen with malware. Other methods include data breaches and phishing.

Phishing and social engineering

Phishing links can be sent through game chats and social engineering is quite common. These methods are used to trick you into down­loading harmful content, giving personal information, and trade scams.