Games

Published on January 27th, 2021 | by Adrian Gunning

NortonLifeLock announces global availability of Norton 360 for Gamers

NortonLifeLock (NASAQ: NLOK), a global leader in consumer Cyber Safety, today announced the global availability of Norton™ 360 for Gamers, security reimagined for gamers.

“It’s never been more critical for gamers to have strong security in place and build good safety habits to protect themselves,” said Mark Gorrie, Senior Director at NortonLifeLock. “With many of us being forced to socially isolate in 2020, there was an increase of gaming in Australia[1]. As a result, gaming has become a more integral part of the way in which we communicate and interact with friends. This has meant gaming accounts and the personal information tied to them have been a more lucrative target for cybercriminals. Norton 360 for Gamers is part of our vision to protect and empower people to live their digital lives. We want gamers to continue enjoying the gaming world, safe in the knowledge they have a Cyber Safety plan in place to help stay one step ahead of the cybercriminals.”

With online gaming on the rise during the pandemic, cybercriminals have taken aim on the lucrative industry that boasts more than 2.7 billion gamers globally[2]. A new survey among nearly 3,000 gamers commissioned by NortonLifeLock and conducted by The Harris Poll found that many gamers are concerned about the trajectory of gaming security, with 72% of Australians surveyed worried that gaming will become less secure in the future. Further, 35% of those surveyed around the world[3] say they have had a gaming account hacked.  Locally, that number is even higher with 42% of gamers in Australia having had a gaming account hacked, including 1 in 10 (10%) who have had their account hacked more than one time[4]. Experts at NortonLifeLock warn that gamers will need to be more vigilant this year as cybercriminals recognize the value of their accounts and personal information.

Today’s gamers are faced with challenges that extend well beyond the game. From casual to hardcore PC gamers, personal information and digital assets abound in the gaming universe and are valuable to cybercriminals, putting gamers at risk for device vulnerabilities, phishing attacks and identity theft. A typical gaming account can include the gamer’s name, birth year, mailing address, email, mobile number, payment information, and other personal information that, with the right mix of information, could be used by an identity thief to wreak financial havoc. Gamer tags are ransacked for virtual items and personally identifiable information that are bought and sold for real money on the Dark Web. Once a gaming account has been breached, the gamer’s other accounts, from banking to social media, are at a much higher risk for account takeovers and fraud.[5]

Norton 360 for Gamers was designed by gamers at NortonLifeLock to help protect PC gamers with advanced, multi-layered protection, including Dark Web Monitoring Powered by LifeLock,[6] a first in Cyber Safety, which monitors up to 10 gamer tags and notifies gamers if their gamer tags, usernames and email addresses are found on the Dark Web. To date, NortonLifeLock has issued more than 60,000 notifications informing customers their gaming information was located on the Dark Web. Norton 360 for Gamers also offers optimised notifications, permanently silencing messages except the most essential, eliminating the tension between wanting security and gaming.

“Gamers pour their passion, time and money into their gaming PCs and accounts, but they’re notoriously apprehensive about security because they just don’t want to be interrupted or experience slowness, or they may think the free stuff is good enough,” said Bob Shaker, Head of Gaming at NortonLifeLock. “Many of us at NortonLifeLock are gamers ourselves, and we wanted to reimagine how we approach security and develop features tailored to gamers’ needs, like limiting notifications that could interrupt a game and adding gamer tag monitoring among the personal information we look out for on the Dark Web. We are excited to now offer Norton 360 for Gamers globally to help keep PC Gamers safe.”

In addition to Dark Web Monitoring, key Norton 360 for Gamers features include:

  • Secure VPN[7]: Browse anonymously and securely by masking your IP address with a no-log VPN to help protect against DDOS attacks, doxxing and SWATing.
  • Notification Optimisation:We’ll only notify you if your PC is under attack, your protection is at risk, or you aren’t using a feature you’re entitled to use—and give you control over product reminders.
  • Full-Screen Mode Detection[8]: Device security for PCs that detects when you’re using full-screen mode, and silences all but critical security alerts.
  • PC SafeCam: Helps protect against potential stream bans and embarrassment with alerts on attempts to access your webcam so you can block them.

[1] NortonLifeLock Digital Transformation Report, August 2020

[2] “2020 Global Games Market Report,” Newzoo, April 2020

[3] US, UK, Australia, Germany, New Zealand

[4] NortonLifeLock online survey of 2,985 adults 18+ in the US (n=1,136), UK (n=473), Australia (n=453), Germany (n=428) and New Zealand (n=495) who currently play online games that require an account where they provide personal information. Conducted by The Harris Poll. December 2020.

[5] Seok, S., & DaCosta, B. (2019). The cyber awareness of online video game players: an examination of their online safety practices and exposure to threats. International Journal of Cyber Research and Education (IJCRE), 1(1), 69-77.

[7] Secure VPN and Dark Web Monitoring are not available in all countries. Full details available on product landing page.

[8] Norton SafeCam and Full-Screen Mode Detection features are only available on Windows.


About the Author

agun@impulsegamer.com'

Adrian lives in Melbourne Australia and has a huge passion for gaming, technology and pop culture. He recently finished his a Bachelor of Journalism and is currently focusing on games journalism. When not writing and playing video games, Adrian can be found in Comics 'R' Us debating the pros of the DC Universe and cons of the Marvel Universe.


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