Malware, ransomware attacks and phishing aren’t the only scourges of the cryptocurrency industry: the Metaverse could become a big target next year, according to cybersecurity experts.
In their report “Consumer Cyberthreats: Predictions for 2023,” The cybersecurity company Kaspersky warned on November 28 that there will be further exploitation of the Metaverse due to a lack of data protection and moderation standards.
Kaspersky acknowledged that there are only a handful of metaverse platforms currently, but their number will expand in the coming years. and the market could even surpass USD 50 billion in 2026. This expansion will attract cybercriminals to the ecosystemwhich will seek to exploit unwitting participants in the virtual world.
“As the metaverse experience is universal and does not obey regional data protection laws, such as the GDPR, this could create complex conflicts between regulatory requirements regarding data breach notification.”
Social media is already a hotbed of data breach activity, so it stands to reason that the Metaverse would be an extension of this. As Cointelegraph reported earlier this year, social networks were responsible for more than $1 billion in losses related to cryptocurrency scams in 2021.
Kaspersky also predicted that virtual abuse and sexual assault will spread to the Metaverse ecosystems. He mentioned cases of “rape and abuse of avatars” and added that with no protection mechanisms or moderation rules “this scary trend is likely to follow us into 2023.”
Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has already come under fire for its Metaverse ambitions due to a lack of user protection and privacy concerns on its platform. of social network.
The report predicts that virtual currencies and in-game items will be one of the “top targets” for cybercriminals, who will try to hijack player accounts or trick players into making fraudulent deals to deliver valuable virtual assets.. Most modern games have introduced some form of monetization or digital currency support, which will become a target for malicious actors.
Kaspersky pointed out that the new forms of social networks will also bring more risks. Specifically, he mentioned the shift to augmented reality-based social media, adding that Cybercriminals can start “distributing fake Trojanized apps” to infect devices for more malicious purposes.
The threats to the new augmented reality-based social networks and metaverse platforms are mainly data and money theft, phishing, and account hacking.the report concluded.
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