

Ask HN: Is it possible to get hacked while playing an online PC video game? - ninthfrank07

My friend wants to play games like Modern Warfare 2 on the family PC but his parents won't let him. His dad is really skeptical. He thinks that if his son plays an online video game, the other players could be able with some software to hack the computer. Clearly, this is prejudice. A player can only get his IP address, but my friend got Windows 7 so the firewall should prevent any attacks.<p>Anyways, his dad won't be convinced unless it's written clearly by a reliable source that there's no danger.<p>So folks, please explain whether his dad is right or wrong of thinking other people could hack his computer while his son plays Modern Warface 2.<p>Thanks
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wmf
I don't see the point of answering this, given that I am just a random person
on the Internet and thus not a reliable source. Also, I don't think you can
address irrational concerns with reason.

As for whether popular games have remotely exploitable vulnerabilities (such
as, oh, a buffer overflow in custom map loading), I doubt that it's any more
dangerous than running a Web browser.

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ninthfrank07
It's just that his parent don't trust what I say. I want a few tech savvy guys
to say what they think.

As you said, it's not any more dangerous than running a Web browser. The thing
is: his father is convinced that playing a PC game is much more dangerous
though he has no problem with games that plays in a web browser. I just want a
bunch of people to support me saying playing a PC game is not more dangerous
than running a Web browser.

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elliottcarlson
You are just as vulnerable playing an online game as you are browsing the
internet.

The bottom line is, you are using applications that may or may not have
vulnerabilities in them, which may or may not be caught by antivirus,
firewalls and other sorts of preventative measures.

The only difference is that you stand a greater risk of being targeted while
playing/chatting online than when you are simply browsing the web; but the
bottom line is, if you (not you, but a communal, global style "you") are
paranoid about something happening to your computer while online, simply
remove the computer from the internet - that's the most secure way of keeping
your computer hack free.

