2011 was a pretty bad year for FIFA in terms of user security and with account phishing, fraud and hacking seemingly at an all time high, we all need to be better protected in 2012.
If you post FIFA YouTube videos, run FIFA live srteams, are near the top of the FIFA 12 Leaderboards, or you regularly post on the EA Forums, like it or not, you ARE a prime target for scammers and in many ways need to be more secure than Joe Public.
Here’s our Top 5 Tips for keeping your personal data and FIFA accounts secure:
1) Use Multiple Passwords
A pretty obvious one this, but you’d be surprised how many people have a singular password for all their FIFA and Social Media outlets. Whilst the password itself might be secure, if just one of your accounts is compromised your entire FIFA estate is up for grabs.
It’s a pain in the arse remembering and maintaining multiple passwords, we know. But it’s an absolute MUST to minimise a leak should it ever occur. If you only have one password for all your FIFA and social media, change that now.
2) No Links
It goes without saying that EA will never contact you directly via email or DM regarding account or password information, but plenty of people will certainly try by sending you dodgy links to FIFA 12 goal videos or Ultimate Team squads.
The easiest way to avoid this form of phishing is to not click any links people send you, but if you do decide to click then never enter your username or password in that browser session if prompted. If you’re asked to login to YouTube or Football World to view something, close down your browser and login to the main site homepage, in a new browser window and not from the linked page.
3) Lock Down Facebook
A very worrying trend of late is the advertising of personal Facebook pages on YouTube channels and even worse the adding or acceptance of random friends who add you from FIFA related sources.
People moan at EA an awful lot about the security of their own systems, but if you’re going to publish your name, address, date of birth, email address, gamertag, links to FIFA media and then invite thousands of random Facebook Friends to view it, there’s only one person to blame.
First and foremost lock down your personal Facebook account security to the maximum level and remove all potentially sensitive data fields. Then if you still want people to view your updates and FIFA content, create yourself a Facebook Fan Page instead of using your personal Facebook account.
Or like Tom, you could boycott Facebook as a matter of principle.
4) Use a Ghost Email Address for FIFA
Similar to using multiple passwords I guess in that if you have the same email account for all your FIFA media outlets you could again find yourself in a spot of bother if hacked, particularly as your FIFA login for Ultimate Team is your email address.
It’s particularly advisable for FIFA to create and use a ghost email account that you and only you know the address for. So if someone does get hold of your main email address and password from Twitter or YouTube, they still can’t access your high value Ultimate Team content. Create yourself a brand new Gmail account and set it as your primary FIFA email address, keep it secret and you’ll have yourself an extra layer of security.
5) Common Sense
The issue of account security for FIFA is much bigger and complex than people think. It goes way beyond EA Servers, Xbox Live, Ultimate Team, or even YouTube because these days all our FIFA and social media outlets are interconnected making the hackers and scammers jobs even easier.
What we need to do as a FIFA community is make their lives incredibly difficult by using multiple passwords, multiple email addresses, setting security questions and either removing or heavily fortifying any personal data.
If you get a FIFA 12 Ultimate Team offer that seems too good to be true, it probably is and if you click a link which prompts you for a password, do the sensible thing and leave it well alone. We all need to be streetwise as well as taking the above precautions and the only person responsible for that is, you.
For further information on password strength and account security check out this post from earlier in the year.
Stay safe out there kids.
