When looking for the latest mobile games to download, entertainment value shouldn’t be your only concern. With mobile gaming apps now storing your financial and personal data at a greater rate than ever, security should be just as important to all gamers as anything else you’d look for in a game.
Particularly with the rise of in-app purchases and the soaring popularity of online casino games, both of which require you to provide your financial data to the apps, keeping that information secure is crucial.
Fortunately, developers have gotten the message, with many of the most reputable ones going further than ever to protect the safety of the players. Here are the ways that mobile game developers are keeping players safe in 2019.
Secure Coding as the New Normal
There was a time when many game developers simply didn’t take the extra precautions of securing their code, failing to consider that the source code of a game is a primary avenue for hackers and malware. A report by Infosecurity revealed that, at any given time, 11 million smartphones are being infected by malicious code via a third party application. These days encrypting, securing, and defending code against reverse engineering is standard practice in game development.
Two, Three, and Four-Factor Authentication
Following ceaseless reports of people unwittingly spending huge amounts of money on an in-app purchase, regulators have taken a tough stance with gaming apps that provide this option. That’s why it is almost impossible to accidentally make an in-app purchase these days, as most games will require you to authenticate your purchase via several levels, which may include fingerprint reading, providing an account number, and answering a secret question.
Working with Secure, Trusted Platforms
One of the most effective ways that games such as online casinos for mobile have succeeded in keeping gamers safe is by trusting large, trusted companies with the handling of their customers’ money. Rather than online casino apps handling their user’s wagers and winnings in-house, major platforms like Mr Green casino let customers use services like Visa, Mastercard, Neteller or Maestro to handle their money. This way, the casino doesn’t need to spend resources to ensure they are as secure as a bank when an actual bank can take care of it instead.
Data Storage Security
Apps collect and store the data of their players; this is just a fact of the industry and a practice that is universal, as well as crucial for ensuring game development and customer satisfaction improves in the future. While many game apps simply collated player data on a standard server, things have changed a lot in recent years. Following several notable data breaches, many developers now opt for secure cloud storage, often provided by third parties such as Amazon and Google.
Helping Gamers Out
Perhaps, most significantly, game developers have taken on a lot more responsibility than they used to, often going the extra mile to ensure the player is informed and safe. Many casino apps, for instance, will allow players to set limits on the amount of time and money they spend playing the slots. Meanwhile, other games will include pop-up messages or load screens with handy tips on how to play safely and protect your data and money.
While hackers are still a threat to safe mobile gaming in 2019, the fact remains that developers are doing more than ever to keep players safe. Any dev knows that one big security breach could wipe out their company for good, which has helped turn player security into an industry priority.
