We want your gaming experience to be fun and safe. We need your help, though, to make sure that our constant efforts to stay on top of our game security are supported by your best efforts, too.
Six Top Tips to Stay Safe
- Never share your account information with others. Not even friends or family. NCSOFT employees will never ask you for your password.
- Change your password frequently. Create new passwords every three to six months. If you use shared or public computers, you should change them more often.
- Select a strong password. A strong password is at least six-to-eight characters long with a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters and at least one number.
- Be careful on shared and unfamiliar computers. You never know what might be on them, or worse, you could forget to log out of your game account while using one.
- Use a different, unique password for each of your online accounts. Creating different passwords for each account makes it that much more difficult for hackers to get to you.
- Don't buy from real-money traders or "power-leveling" services. Using real-world money to buy in-game currency or to pay to have your character leveled has a huge impact on the games you love. They sell you goods stolen from legitimate players and it ends up putting your account at significant risk.
Help me, I've been hacked.
- Change your password and hint questions on your game account as soon as you can.
- Contact NCSOFT customer support. The people who work there are experts at restoring accounts and are ready to help.
- Change passwords and hint questions for other games, user forums, and any other online accounts you may have. Hackers can sometimes get to your accounts by attacking a vulnerable third-party site or game.
- Promptly follow up on any requests for additional information from NCSOFT customer support.
How can I make my game account more secure?
-
Keep your software up-to-date.
- Use good antivirus security software and keep it up to date. (Examples: Microsoft Security, AVG, McAfee, Avast!, Nod32)
- Keep your operating system up to date (Windows Update, Mac Updates). The security updates the maker of your OS gives you are offered to help you safe. Use the updates they offer.
- Keep your firewall turned on (PC firewalls, Mac firewalls).
- Make sure that you are using the most recent versions of browser plug-ins, especially Adobe's Flash Player.
-
Protect your sign-in information.
- Change your password frequently.
- Select a strong password. Use at least six digits, preferably eight or more. At least one digit should be a number. Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters. Do not use familiar letters, commonly used words, real world words, or repetitive digits. So, don't use your account name, a real word you could find in a dictionary, the word "password," strings of letters or numbers like "aaaaaaaaaa" or "ababab."
- Use a different, unique password for each of your online accounts.
-
Do not give out your account information to anyone.
- Never share your account information with others, not even friends or family. NCSOFT will never ask you for your password, so don't share it.
- Do not respond to requests for game passwords. NCSOFT customer service and other employees do not need your password to assist you.
- Beware of bogus forums. They may encourage you to sign up for an account, and then use those credentials to attack your game accounts.
- Be aware of phishing and pharming sites, and be careful about clicking a link to one. Be skeptical about the sites where you are directed to. Phishing sites may have misspellings and poor design, but they can also be high-quality copies of official sites, or sites that claim to be official sites. When in doubt, navigate to a site by entering the address into your browser's address bar.
- Beware of emails that urge you to act quickly because your account may be suspended or closed or that address you by generic language like "Dear valued customer."
- Beware of emails that claim to be from a bank, the IRS, or another important organization that asks for your user name or password or to send money. If you think you might need to contact such an organization, contact it directly, not from a link in the email.
- Report suspicious behavior including strangers who unexpectedly ask for account or personal information. NCSOFT will ban players who attempt to defraud other users.
-
Keep your personal information personal.
- Never share your credit card information.
- Don't give out your full name or address. It can be used by hackers to masquerade as you.
-
Stay clear of shortcuts. If something seems like it's too good to be true, it probably is.
- Don't buy Kinah, Adena, gold, or other in-game currency. These just put your account at risk and ruin the game economy and the play environment.
- Don't download third-party software that claims to help or optimize your play of our games. These often include dangerous viruses and malware used to steal your account.
- Don't fall for power-leveling scams. They may level your character up, but they may also steal your credit card information, your characters, and your hard-earned inventory.
- Don't visit suspicious websites. They may contain viruses that infect your computer.
-
Be an active and informed parent.
- Review game ratings to make sure they are age-appropriate for your children.
- Monitor or even play computer games with your kids.
- Be aware of the social interactions your children have in games, including all game chat features and email exchanges.
- Create game accounts with your children, and limit access to credit card numbers or other critical account data.
- Report players that harass or use offensive behavior, or those who ask personal questions or are asking for account information.
More Information
- Review computer security information for your operating system: PC (home user and tech updates), Mac.
- Read about "Avoiding Online Gaming Risks" and computer emergency readiness from the US government.
- Visit ESRB.org or Staysafeonline.org for more information about online safety and security.