Curse Inc.’s proprietary voice communication platform, Curse Voice, offers a secure option for gamers to communicate worldwide, eliminating the growing threat of online identity theft and other malicious attacks.

On June 28, 2014 Max and Victoria Zeisberg and their three children had their home raided by the Harriman Police Department’s SWAT team – but only after enduring hours of threats from anonymous phone calls threatening their lives and their family.  During the ordeal, both Max and Victoria were temporarily restrained, and the family was forced to watch on while their home was given a thorough search before they were released from police custody.

Their crime? Streaming Call of Duty.

Swatting is common enough to have made its way into mainstream vernacular, but it’s a malicious form of harassment that not everyone understands. Unprotected VoIP is one of the many ways online information can be unintentionally revealed, and while it may not be the only way that personal information can be leaked, it remains to be one of the most vulnerable security loopholes currently available.

John Russo, writer/creator of Night of the Living Dead stated, “This kind of thing is one more example of the disappearance of manners, politeness, and civility in modern life. It is mean-spirited at its core and probably has its roots in the mindless envy that the perpetrators may have for anyone who is more successful or more famous or more notable than they are. Things may get a lot worse before they get better – if things ever do. I hope we’re not all on a hopeless downhill spiral from which we may never recover.”

Creating safer online tools is the first step in stopping the hazards of swatting. Several companies that provide online tools, like Cisco, Arbor Networks and Curse, are joining up to fight the epidemic with better DDoS protection for their users. The Black Lotus Q4 2014 Threat Report showed that the average packet volume for DDoS attacks increased 340 percent to 4.36 Mpps.

“Since we’re all so connected, personal information like names, addresses and phone numbers are easier than ever to find online, and the swatting and doxing situations only worsen from large company’s breaches like Sony or Anthem. We found in Black Lotus’ Q4 2014 Threat Report that cyberattackers are using increasingly complex DDoS attacks to act as smokescreens while they dig into organizations’ networks for credentials that can bring them financial gain. Just this month, Twitch, the streaming service popular with online gamers, was hacked and its users’ passwords, credit cards and other information were stolen. The ease with which individuals can port victims’ phone numbers or fake their security authentication makes it tougher to track and stop swatting. These attacks can also unfortunately have life-or-death implications, since they tie up law enforcement or first responders and delay them from real emergencies that may be in progress,” stated Shawn Marck, Chief security Officer and Co-founder of Black Lotus.

Companies in the space have started to take note of the hazards of online swatting and are developing better tools to give users a safer environment to play in. With 2 million users across 42 games, Curse Voice is rapidly being established as the industry’s most versatile tool.  Able to connect friends and strangers across a growing number of multiplayer games, Curse Voice has established its place in the gaming community as reliable, easy to use, and most importantly – safe.

Curse Founder & CEO, Hubert Thieblot, voiced his concerns on the matter, “We want players to feel safe, and this is why we specifically built our client in the cloud, providing extra security and protection for the individuals that use it.” He adds, “No swapping of server information or passwords occurs in order to prevent your IP from falling into the wrong hands.”

Curse has managed to create an online communications platform with Curse Voice that keeps the player’s security in mind while enhancing their overall game satisfaction.

    Keeping yourself anonymous online is difficult, but Curse Voice makes it easier by minimizing the amount of information you share with others.

    Information handled on Curse is completely independent from other popular game servers, keeping players safe from the same compromising security leaks that can occur.

    Over 9.9 million counts of identity theft occur each year in the United States alone. By using secure, private servers, every single one of Curse Voice’s players keeps their IP address and personal information safe.

    Protection from brute force attempts to keep parties private, while server information used for services like Ventrillo, Mumble, or Raidcall is difficult to hide once exposed to the public.

    Curse Voice’s simple overlay makes it easy to use for PC streaming, and group chats created via Curse Voice allow for the same social connectivity without the security risks.

IT security service spending for 2015 was estimated to be around 49,140 million, while the consulting segment is expected to reach 12,152 million worldwide. The VoIP global business market is estimated to grow to just over $88 billion by 2018. Many consumers pay extra for the added security of knowing their information is safe, but such a ‘feature’ comes standard with Curse Voice. Keeping yourself safe from dangerous online threats like swatting is more than just a matter of using a secure VoIP – but it’s a strong step in the right direction. 

Curse Voice is the only VoIP gaming service that offers a controlled and safe environment to meet other gamers and make friends without any cost to the user.