Cheaters Welcome
Organized cheating is often the driving factor behind attacks on gamers. The design of online game architecture creates an open door for hackers, whose methods of operating thrive on exploits to enhance the opportunity for cheating, according to McGraw.

For instance, players' coordinates can be manipulated without other players knowing it, he explained. Cheaters can make real money at these games by generating counterfeit virtual wealth that can be distributed and converted into real wealth.

"Cheating is a big factor in the security issues. The hacking underground deals with ?200 million per month in players' money," said Carmichael. "This affects customer retention. It is no fun anymore if somebody is cheating."

This unfair playing field, coupled with the malware attacking gamers, makes for a bleak, no-man's land mentality. The game provider industry is aware of the problem, he asserted. However, dealing with it involves performance and reliability issues that pose problems for gamers.

"This is viewed as one of the top 10 concerns in the industry today," Carmichael remarked.

Players Beware
Some Web sites with malicious content attempt to lure gamers to access them or download Trojans and password stealers. Very common are tricks for stealing "World of Warcraft" account information, for instance.

"The reason is that this game world has become a micro economy with goods being sold for real money. Links to malicious sites and malicious code itself can be sent in e-mail , instant messengers and even appear in hacked Web pages or Web ads sponsored by attackers and published in legitimate sites," said Ofer Elzam, director of product management for Aladdin eSafe at Aladdin Knowledge Systems.

Various malicious codes target gamers and try to steal product keys of games so pirates can play illegally obtained copies using a legitimate buyer's code. Also, gamers could be tempted to download and install various beta games and free add-on content that might contain malicious code, Elzam warned.

Perfect World screenshot (Click here for full image)