Account theft, like identity theft, is becoming more and more prevalent in the MMOG industry. Players looking to get an ahead of fellow players sometimes resort to 3rd party applications, client hacks and macros. Sometimes these programs deliver what they promise; others are viruses that cause annoyances on your computer system. Some of the worst are Trojans.

Trojans can do a variety of things to your system. Some Trojans can hide themselves in your operating system registry and remain virtually undetectable by virus scans. There are Trojans that can extract URLs, user names and passwords from user files, while other variants can take screenshots or log keystrokes. There are yet other Trojans that can disable security software or any combination of the above.

What does this mean to you, the player? Don't use macros of your own creation. This can result in a banned account. Don't download or use macros that you may have seen on the internet. Don't use 3rd party applications, unless they are approved by CCP. At best, they might work as intended. Their use might result in a hacked account. At worst, your credit card information, bank records and anything else you do online might be stolen and used.

Some simple suggestions to limit the chances of account or identity theft. Don't download and use 3rd party programs, applications or macros from sites that you don't trust. Make sure that your virus protection is up to date. Change your passwords frequently and use a combination of alphanumerics. If entering user name and password information, make sure the site is secure before sending sensitive information. There are a range of other things that can and should be done to maintain system security, this is just a short list and something that everyone should do, gamer or not.

Before you hit the "extract" button on that file you just downloaded from www.eveXploitz.com, give it some thought. Is an extra advantage in EVE really worth the risk of account or identity theft? It's your call, your information and your responsibility.