A recent study conducted by ESET has highlighted the increased risk of viruses faced by gamers who play "always on" games on their PCs.
The survey lays the blame on games such as Diablo III and Sim City, suggesting that gamers who play these games often switch off their internet security in order to optimise their online experience.
Almost a third of the 1000 gamers questioned admitted to switching off their security in order to play, with as many as a quarter of gamers being infected as a direct result. Obviously MMOs and online multiplayer games require an internet connection, but as highlighted by this study, unnecessary online requirements are proving detrimental to people's security - even if it's ultimately a personal choice as to whether or not online protection is turned off or not.
"It's evident that gamers are not protecting themselves sufficiently and are unaware of the risk of playing online without protection - and as more and more titles require a constant Internet connection, that's a real worry," said ESET's Quinton Watts.
He then added: "We're in an age where cyber attacks can be detrimental to a person's identity security and gamers, savvy as they may be, put themselves at risk far more than they need to."