Tag Archives: Fortnite

Why Gamers Should Keep Their Antivirus On

Some disable their antivirus before playing online games because they believe it gives them smooth gameplay, the highest FPS (frames per second) possible, and reduced lag.

Some functions of antivirus software can indeed interfere with your gaming experience, such as scheduled system scans, notifications of stopped threats, or virus database updates.

Disabling antivirus software might seem like a viable option in the short term. But at the end of the day, it can’t be justified due to advancements in antivirus software and the introduction of “gaming mode.”

Studies have shown that the normal functions of antivirus that monitor for viruses and malware don’t diminish system performance when you’re playing games.

Keeping your PC protected with antivirus software during gaming sessions helps you avoid many threats that are specifically affecting the world of online gaming.

The Rise of Online Gaming

Once dismissed as a fad, online games have become the dominant form of entertainment. Did you know that online gaming revenue dwarfs both movie box office and recorded music revenue?

Games like Minecraft and Fortnite have hundreds of millions of active users alone.

Harnessing the power of the internet has changed gaming forever. It’s opened up astounding creative possibilities for game developers.

Online gaming also exposes people to a variety of dangers. The internet has provided the means for these threats. The explosion in popularity of gaming has made gamers an attractive group to target for bad actors.

Gaming Mode to the Rescue

To give gamers the best possible experience while keeping their systems safe, a lot of security software offers “gaming mode.”

This ensures that scans and updates are delayed until the gaming session Is over. Additionally, gamers aren’t interrupted by notifications when it’s enabled.

Gaming mode is one of the top features gamers should look for in antivirus software. Understandably, people don’t want to compromise gameplay to protect their PC, and with this feature, they don’t have to.

Bad Tech Experiences Dictating Future Actions

Some gamers have experienced headaches with antivirus and games conflicting in the past, thus it’s driven them to disable their antivirus to avoid reliving them.

One surefire way to make antivirus a nuisance is to install third-party antivirus software while keeping Windows Defender enabled. In this case, two is not better than one. Having two security solutions running won’t double or even increase the level of protection. However, it will almost certainly double the number of scans, notifications, and actions taken by each piece of antivirus software.

It never hurts to check how your antivirus is configured to make sure it considers your gaming habits. A full system scan once per week is sufficient for many, and it’s far less likely to interrupt a gaming session than daily scans. Schedule scans at a time when you don’t play games.

Forgetting to Reenable Your Antivirus

Another reason disabling your antivirus isn’t a good strategy is there’s always the possibility that you forget to reenable it after a gaming session. Let’s face it, after a particularly long or intense stretch of gaming, it’s easy to exit the game and move on to thoughts that couldn’t be further than your antivirus software.

You can certainly forget to disable “gaming mode” in your antivirus too. However, your PC is still well-protected if you do.

Common Threats that Gamers Face

Phishing: Many are familiar with phishing as it relates to email, social media, and the web. Fewer people are aware that scammers also use gaming platforms or even the games themselves to trick people. If someone messages you and asks for confidential information it isn’t legitimate no matter how credible they may appear at first glance.

Malware: Here’s another reason to avoid downloading cheats: it’s a common way to get malware. Malware can integrate itself into legitimate pages, so it can be tricky to spot.

Viruses and trojanized games: Some files that are labeled as games aren’t games at all, they’re viruses. These trojanized titles can be found on shady websites offering free games and even legit app stores at times. On online stores, check the date of release and read the game’s reviews to confirm it’s genuine. Beware of players you don’t know offering you in-game equipment, weapons, or downloads. They could be using bait to infect your PC.

Data breaches: Any website you have an account with can be hit with a data breach. This means that cybercriminals have successfully stolen private data from a massive list of a company’s customers. The games you play and gaming platforms you use don’t need to be affected for this to become a threat. The data can be used for credential stuffing. This is when hackers use data obtained from a breach to attempt to get into your gaming account.

Spyware: It isn’t always individuals and other players you need to defend yourself from, it’s also untrustworthy gaming operations. Spyware is deployed to track the actions of unsuspecting gamers. It then can be sold to third parties they’ve never interacted with.

In-game currency theft: If you’re dedicated to an MMO and have amassed an in-game fortune and legendary items, this one is for you. Some bad actors are breaking into people’s accounts specifically to get a hold of their inventory and in-game currency. Players who have invested countless hours into advancing their characters should protect their accounts accordingly with unique, particularly strong passwords.

Conclusion

Disabling your antivirus during online gaming sessions isn’t the solution it may seem to be. If there’s a time you need that protection the most, it’s when exploring online worlds.

Check to see if your antivirus supports “gaming mode.” Once you get into the habit of using it, you’ll wonder how you managed to live without it.

Stopping Cheaters in Fortnite Is a Game of Whack-A-Mole

Ever gotten beaten by a player that never missed once in Fortnite? If you’re like most players, it happens too often.

It probably wasn’t a player with superhuman skills, or your imagination, or luck. Odds are you encountered an aim-botter. And it’s one of the most common ways players cheat in the game.

Fortnite Tops the List for the Most Cheaters

A recent study by Surfshark found that Fortnite has the biggest cheating problem out of any online game.

It looked at how many views videos about cheating have on YouTube. Fortnite was number one by a wide margin, followed by Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

As much as it’s disconcerting for Fortnite players it’s also a testament of its incredible popularity. Fortnite is one of the biggest games in the world right now. And the more players, the higher the headcount of cheaters.

The Types of Hacks on Fortnite

The Fortnite cheats you often hear about from game journalists and frustrated players are aimbot and wallhack.

A website that sells Fortnite cheats stated its top hacks include “Aimbot, ESP, Wallhack, Radar Hack, Trigger Bot, No Recoil and more.” They are being sold for around $10.

Aimbot

Aimbot is a cheat that shows no mercy. Every shot hits its target. Players can run, duck, or jump to try to save themselves but their every movement is perfectly tracked. And the cheater’s opponents are blasted away without hesitation. In fact, aimbots are so precise that they can target parts of the body such as the head, neck, chest, or leg.

Wallhack aka ESP

Wallhack makes it impossible for players to hide and use the element of surprise to their advantage. It allows cheaters to see behind walls, structures, and parts of the terrain like mountains and boulders. It’s a devastating hack because Fortnite is all about building forts and using them in battle. Coupled with aimbot this puts cheaters in “god mode” so other players don’t stand a chance.

Epic Games Takes A Stand

So, is developer Epic Games dropping the ball? Although it can seem like it when emotions are riding high after getting blasted by an aim-botter, the company is actually pulling out all the stops to make it difficult for cheaters.

Community Coordinator Nathan Mooney had this to say on Fortnite’s official blog:

To start, addressing cheaters in Fortnite is the highest priority across Epic Games. We are constantly working against both the cheaters themselves and the cheat providers. And it’s ongoing, we’re exploring every measure to ensure these cheaters are removed and stay removed from Fortnite Battle Royale and the Epic ecosystem. We don’t want to give too many clues about what we’re doing, but we are rolling out tools and will continue to do so. Thousands have been banned and we have no plans to stop!

Note that he says it’s ongoing. The sad reality is every time Epic Games implements a new way to thwart cheating the Fortnite communities’ bad apples eventually figure out how to get around it.

In 2022 Epic rolled out new anti-cheat software called Byfron. And it made tampering with the game harder than ever.

Soon after, hackers voiced their irritation in a Discord server when it prevented them from accessing the game entirely:

“FN will be down for a while. Fortnite after three years has decided to add s**t that will make it hard to cheat,” one hacker said. “They have greatly protected things that we need to make a cheat.”

“Before this update nothing was protected, now everything is.”

Epic is now protecting Fortnite with three layers of anti-cheat software: EasyAntiCheat, Battle Eye, and Byfron.

Detecting the Cheaters

One of Epic’s latest moves is to remove players that use tools to conceal or alter their device’s hardware IDs. These hardware IDs are used to track the parts of a computer a player uses with Epic Games. Thus, anybody hiding it is in almost all cases banned from Fortnite or is up to no good.

Unfortunately, soft hacks are being replaced with hardware hacks to avoid being detected in the first place.

Some players are now using a device called Cronus Zen. It’s a new, advanced take on those old SNES controllers with turbo buttons. It acts as an emulator that can run custom mods for game controllers. The mods improve building and take aim assist to the next level.

Protecting Yourself with a VPN in Fortnite

Using a VPN is an effective way to preserve your online privacy and protect yourself from malicious players. It hides your IP address and by doing so it eliminates the possibility of other players using tools to find it.

The catch is Epic Games doesn’t recommend using a VPN in Fortnite. This is because players with banned IP addresses use VPNs to access the game.

You could get this popup message from Epic Games if you have a VPN enabled, “You were removed from the match due to internet lag, your IP or machine, VPN usage, or for cheating. We recommend not utilizing VPN or proxy services while attempting to play Fortnite.”

For many, the benefits outweigh the possibility of getting removed from matches. See LetMeBy’s reviews of the top VPNs to learn more.

Conclusion

Online multiplayer games will always have cheaters. They’ve been around since the early days in games like Doom and Unreal Tournament.

They’ve infested plenty of titles over the years such as the multiplayer in old versions of Call of Duty. Epic Games has a monumental task on its hands. But they’ll be willing to keep it up as long as Fortnite is a cash cow for Epic.