On August 29, Gamer’s Day is celebrated globally. For some time there has been talk of why the gamer community is an attractive target for cybercriminals and also why video game companies are frequent targets, here are the most interesting data left by the security survey that it carried out with its gamer community to learn if they have suffered a security incident and what is their perception of the risks that exist.
Recent reports show that the current scenario shows no signs that attacks on gamers, platforms and video game companies have slowed down. After a 2020 convulsed by the pandemic that registered a significant growth in cyberattacks on video game companies, data from 2022 revealed that the trend not only continues, but also attacks on video game companies doubled in the last year. Also, attacks targeting the theft of male and female player accounts also doubled.
One of the reasons that could explain this phenomenon is the growth of play to earn games, which had an increase of 2000% in the number of participants during the first three months of this 2022. The attractiveness of this type of game is that They combine fun with the possibility of earning money through crypto assets provided by the game. There are even those who wonder if play to earn games are the future of this industry.
Axie Infinity has been one of the most popular of its kind in recent times and, as is often the case, its growth has also attracted the interest of cybercriminals looking to take advantage of the large number of users and the money in circulation. For example, through phishing sites looking to steal cryptocurrency wallets, fake apps, or through trickery. Sites like Discord are commonly the stage for different kinds of malicious campaigns.
According to the survey carried out by ESET Latin America and in which about 1,150 people participated, it stands out that 1 in 3 of the people claimed to have received some attempt at deception through a video game platform. Usually through in-game contacts or via Discord.
Another interesting fact is that the 30% of people surveyed revealed that they got infected by downloading from unofficial sites. Although this data confirms the important activity that cybercriminals have around video games, almost 50% consider that it is not a risky activity for information security.
This perception of low risk is also seen in the fact that many gamers are unwilling to sacrifice the gaming experience to stay protected, as more than 40% said it is important to keep the equipment protected when playing, but only if it does not affect the experience.
The video game industry continues to expand and evolve, especially in some sectors, such as video game platforms in the cloud, which had great growth and are also projecting a significant increase in profits. Likewise, the number of new gamers has been growing steadily since 2015. “But this growth and expansion also increasingly attracts malicious actors, including sophisticated groups like Lazarus, which stole nearly $625 million in crypto from Axie Infinity. All this shows how important it is for the gamer community to acquire safe habits when playing and this is something that must be built, because unfortunately the activity of cybercriminals will continue to be a constant.”, comments Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, Head of the ESET Latin America Research Laboratory.
Regarding the theft of accounts, although there are different ways in which an attacker can steal it, either through malware or after having compromised the email and using that information to access the platform, the keys to securing it are , keep systems updated to the latest version, have a security solution installed on the device, use a strong password, and implement two-factor authentication.
Many platforms or developers in particular have taken action to encourage users to implement two-factor authentication (2FA) to secure their accounts. So it was that in 2018 Epic Games offered Fortnite players to activate 2FA to get the Boogie Down gesture for free, or to have 2FA activated as a requirement to access free games.
On the other hand, as for children and adolescents, it is very important to accompany the use of online game platforms. That is why some advice is also provided so that family members or guardians can recognize or manage the altered behaviors that can be found when excessive use of the platforms is made. “From Argentina Cibersegura we share warning signs such as the inability to regulate playing timelinked to this behavior the loss of control over impulses and the need to continue immersed in a circle of reward, the estrangement from family, social, or educational tiesdetecting that it is becoming a priority activity, and to which all the others are subordinate, is usually a clear sign that we must review the children’s behavior, replace break with playing time, changing sleeping habits in order to comply with online gaming spaces, are directly detrimental factors for performance in school and other activities. It is important to understand that none of these symptoms separately determines that a person is facing an addiction to video games, but they are useful to discover that something may be happening and seek help in time to solve it.”, says Javier Lombardi, Educational Mentor of Argentina Cibersegura.(I)
Source: Eluniverso
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