# Casual Game Sites Full of Malware? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 5, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065 "2009-04-05T18:33:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/1 "2009-04-05T18:33:27Z")
The few times I’ve considered playing casual games on Popcap, I’ve backed out from concern that there’s likely to be tons of malware in downloads. Does anyone know for sure whether these sites are safe to use? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/2 "2009-04-05T23:00:21Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > The few times I’ve considered playing casual games on Popcap, I’ve backed out from concern that there’s likely to be tons of malware in downloads. Does anyone know for sure whether these sites are safe to use? I won’t say that some of the sites don’t lure people in with games and then hit them with malware, but I will say the risk is minimal as long as you use a secure web browser (as in not Internet Explorer), keep Flash up to date, and stick to major sites (Popcap is a perfect example of that; they’re trying to sell you stuff so they won’t want to make their customers angry by sending them something nasty). If you’re not confident then don’t download things to your PC and run them there; run them in the browser and if a message box appears asking you to download something just click no. Follow those basic precautions and the chances that anything bad will get back to you are so small that it’s not worth talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/3 "2009-04-06T00:17:22Z")
I’ve been playing Popcap games for more than five years with not even a blip. Popcap is pretty straightforward in that they have a name, reputation, address, and so forth. They’re not some dodgy fly-by-night. ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/4 "2009-04-06T02:15:42Z")
I’ve worked in the casual games industry for almost a decade and none of the major sites (RealArcade, Big Fish, GameHouse, PopCap, Oberon, PlayFirst, and SpinTop, just to name a few) have malware. They might have add-ons like Firefox or Google Toolbar in their game installations, but they’re always provided as options and not installed without the user’s permission. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/5 "2009-04-06T02:26:45Z")
I play lots of casual games from several major sites and have never had a problem with malware. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/6 "2009-04-06T05:26:57Z")
Thanks for your comments. I’m reassured. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/7 "2009-04-06T05:41:37Z")
Oops, I guess it was Pogo I was wondering about. Are they in the same league as the reputable ones? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/8 "2009-04-06T05:52:33Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > Oops, I guess it was Pogo I was wondering about. Are they in the same league as the reputable ones? Pogo appears to belong to Electronics Arts. EA is many things, several of them negative, but a malware spreader isn’t likely to be one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/9 "2009-04-06T11:23:27Z")
Pogo’s one I’ve played and not had problems with. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/10 "2009-04-06T11:52:00Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Pogo appears to belong to Electronics Arts. EA is many things, several of them negative, but a malware spreader isn’t likely to be one of them. There’s a perfectly good SecuROM joke going to waste here in order to avoid scaring off **wonderlust**. (Really I have nothing bad to say about Pogo and would have no concerns about playing anything on the site.) ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casual-game-sites-full-of-malware/492065/11 "2009-04-06T12:11:45Z")
> [@OneChance](#): > > I’ve worked in the casual games industry for almost a decade and none of the major sites (RealArcade, Big Fish, GameHouse, PopCap, Oberon, PlayFirst, and SpinTop, just to name a few) have malware. They might have add-ons like Firefox or Google Toolbar in their game installations, but they’re always provided as options and not installed without the user’s permission. My wife is a csual game addict. She’s downloaded from all the sites OneChance listed. We’ve never had a problem.