<p> Online gaming has been growing significantly over the past ten years. There are currently an estimated 1.5 billion unique registered accounts of online games worldwide. However, few people are aware of the risks associated with playing online games. The risks are also not limited to users in their own homes on their own personal computers. Many of these games are being played in the workplace, opening up a whole different set of risks. This research is an initial look at three popular online games – and the potential risks they pose. This initial work was broken into three tasks: analyze the posted privacy policy, terms of use/service, and other related documents of each game; install the game and analyze system changes; and monitor firewall traffic of game-related processes, especially when we are not even using the particular game. </p>
<p> <strong> Don Tobin </strong> is currently an assistant professor of computer science and a retired Air Force officer. His research interests are in general computer security, rootkits and detection, social computing, and static and dynamic analysis. He has been breaking rules since the first Pong game came home. </p>
<p> <strong> Lyndsey Brown </strong> is an undergraduate student studying computer science. This is her first research experience, and she is amazed at what really happens to your computer when you install even “friendly” software. She is hooked now, and can’t wait to learn more. </p>