In our utilitarian digital age, most of the ways in which we conduct our lives are now accessible in some form through a digital meeting. Our work, administrative duties, and most important of all, entertainment is largely hosted online in various formats. This is an exciting prospect, because it gives us the opportunity to access more entertainment on demand, and from a wider range of sources than ever before.
However, protecting yourself and your information from reputable sources needs to be a consideration. Renting a DVD from a video store isn’t likely to have caused you safety issues, but using a digital frame to gather entertainment mediums can be a little riskier. This is because your desktop, smartphone or tablet you use to collate your favorite entertainment is also a place where your most personal information is stored.
If you have children, sometimes it’s also just good sense to review what sort of content they’re able to have access to. Use this following list a resource when doing your checks.
Steam Guard
Steam is the most popular format for purchasing and downloading a library of PC games. The store has a marketplace and a real economy, hosting video game trading cards, items for online games amongst other things. Due to this successful marketplace, Steam has naturally become a target for those hoping to get illegitimate access to accounts. Valve, who operate and run Steam, decided to counter this by adopting the ‘Steam Guard’ solution, which is a keycode-based security system that allows you to register your account to certain ‘trusted devices.’
Thanks to the traveling and LAN party focused nature of PC Gamers, this was necessary and smooths out login attempts on different machines. Make sure you have Steam Guard enabled and direct your primary security device as your Smartphone for the second layer of security, and rest easy knowing that your vast and costly video game library is safe.
VPN’s
Thanks to the popularity of streaming sites worldwide, extra considerations have to be made when using specific services like Popcorn Time. Adopting the correct VPN by educating yourself about them through websites like securethoughts will help you ensure that your information is protected, and your streamed content is private. A VPN will encrypt the data that you both receive and send out, stopping anyone attempting to trace your data dead in their tracks.
Age Filters
If you’re worried about your children accessing content that’s not suitable for them, you can use parental features that are present in most modern operating systems to both limit their time online and restrict access to certain websites. It also allows you to prevent them accessing ‘official’ websites that don’t present a security certificate to the visitor. Netflix and YouTube offer ‘child’ filtering services that allow you to hone the content they see to be reasonable for their minds.
The best way to protect yourself safely is to use good sense. Ensure that every website you visit, or source you stream from is protected by a VPN and that you’re not transmitting unnecessary information when you do. This will allow you to bestow the whole of your focus upon being entertained. A great movie is even greater when you have peace of mind to view it!
