I've been an avid user of the Internet and a voracious online gamer for many years.
In my defence, I am not an obese, Doritos-smudged 45-year-old virgin - just a guy with a brain for computers who likes to hack and slash orcs, blow things up and pretend he's got superhuman powers and abilities.
OK, I do like Doritos.
But as such, I tend to be more aware of online security and privacy issues than most casual Internet users, and am usually really good at protecting things like my credit card numbers and personal information.
My home computers have full suites of antivirus, malware checkers and Internet security, plus firewalls and some customized settings.
My Facebook postings can only be seen by my select group of friends.
I don't troll porn - mainly because there are no orcs there to kill, and hardly anything ever explodes in the way you want - or other questionable sites.
I have a PayPal account for when I buy something online from eBay or a site for which I don't have 100 per cent confidence.
PayPal is essentially a trusted middleman between your credit card or bank account and an online seller or website.
It's like the friend who passes the note to the pretty girl for you in gym class.
But when I do give my credit card info and personal details to a website, it's usually to a big, well-trusted site like Amazon, Expedia or my bank.
Sites like that have way too much security - and way too much to lose - to worry about my information being compromised, right?
Well, for the first time I'm having my doubts about anyone being able to keep my personal data secure.
One of the gaming gizmos I own is the Playstation 3 console from Sony.
To gain access to some of the online features, or purchase games or add-ons to games, you need to sign up for a Playstation account, give some details like email address, home address, and of course your credit card information.
More than 77 million people around the world gave up that info (including me), because it's a big company like Sony, and they certainly know enough to keep that data secure, right?
Well, this wouldn't be much of a column if they did so as you already guessed, someone hacked into that network recently and possibly got away with tons of user data.
It took them a couple of days, but Sony and Playstation owned up to the lapse in security, which some are calling one of the biggest privacy breaches (and biggest PR scandals) to hit the online world.
Sony also this week took down its full Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) gaming network, essentially turning off games like the Everquest series, DC Universe Online and its Facebook games because the hackers had possibly stolen user info there as well.
Currently, the FBI has gotten involved and everyone is trying to track down the guys that got away with all that data.
Now, should this dissuade you from using your credit card in the online world?
Even though I'm one of the gamers affected, I'd still say no.
This is a huge breach; make no mistake, and not something that normally should happen.
Sony messed up big, and that will likely make other companies ramp up their own security in the future.
As for me, I've already changed passwords on bank, gaming and credit accounts, and also plan to have a fraud alert put on the same.
Sure, it's irksome that despite all my precautions, some nefarious person may have too much personal info about me (as well as access to my orc slayers and superheroes), but that's the price we pay if we choose to live in the virtual worlds.
Well, that and Doritos stains.
