Although everyone was a bit skeptical at first, now we may know that one of the fastest-growing industries in the world is gaming. Now everyone plays games. Seeing the huge rise in the number of players, developers are starting to grow themselves by adapting multiple advanced technologies while also trying to gain much profit from the games they’ve created.
And yes, playing games is sure fun, and there are no boundaries to what you can achieve in the industry since you can always create something new that’s both selling and valuable in terms of art. But, seeing the gaming industry’s huge potential, hackers are trying harder to get into it by adapting new malware and viruses that could bring them sheer profit. Data stealing and personal data spying are only small examples of the troubles they might cause.
During the last and a half years, the gaming industry has already suffered from more than 10 billion attacks, which highly focused on credential stuffing. It’s absurd. That’s the reason why you should always implement better cybersecurity. And today, we want to talk about the top 5 cybersecurity trends in the gaming world in 2022.
Understanding The Risks in Video Game Industry
Similar to other industries, security issues in the gaming industry are still highly related to data leaks and credential stuffing. Many players are suffering from their personal data getting leaked online, resulting in financial loss.
Usually, hackers mostly target mobile phone users who tend to play games using only their devices, and the reason is pretty simple. According to the data obtained online, around 100 billion cyber attacks happened between July 2018 and June 2020. And surely, this is quite alarming.
According to research by Kaspersky, it has been known that the number of players and cyberattack attempts has increased excessively through the years. There was a %185 increase in cyberattacks from February to March 2020. And the dramatic growth only happened for months; imagine what would happen if the same thing happened for years.
The usual method most hackers would use is to disguise themselves as a website to download free games, whether it’s limited to mobile phones or PC as well. After the user downloads the file (which contains malware), they could gain all the personal information that’s related to that user. Malware will slip into the device and take control of the account and the other payment accounts or emails connected.
That’s the reason why safety is the most important aspect. One way you can do to protect yourself is by using a VPN. People start using more often VPN for gaming, thanks to its features. Not only making your connection more private, but you’ll also experience fewer lags and fewer pings if you’re connected to a great server.
The 5 Cybersecurity Trends in Gaming
Thanks to the fast-growing industry that’s user-focused, every aspect of the gaming world is evolving at a fast pace. In recent years, we’ve seen that the mobile gaming industry has grown even faster than consoles. Developers are starting to realize the potential of getting profits from gacha, monthly subscriptions, or skins.
Since the industry has become denser, what’s currently in trend for cybersecurity in gaming? Let us take a look at some of them below:
1. Piracy is Everywhere
Piracy is like an addiction. Once you get your hands on it, you can never go free. Some people may change their perspectives about piracy and decide to leave it for good, while some don’t. Privacy is still likely to grow in the years 2022 and 2023. Many are still using third-party websites to download games for free, although Steam is already a very easy way to get games.
The pricey games are one of the reasons why gamers are still doing piracy everywhere, and we can’t really blame it. Developers make the games, and they make them seriously. At least, we can show a bit of appreciation by buying their games, and if the game turns out to be good, the money wouldn’t be wasted in vain.
But really, we highly recommend you not to download from malicious websites. Instead of getting the games, there’s a chance that you might receive malware. If you really don’t have money to buy the games, just wait for the massive discounts at Steam.
2. In-App Purchases Become More Imminent
Yes, mobile games are loved by many. But almost all of them have in-app purchases, which can sometimes be pretty unfair. According to a report by App Annie in 2021, it was noted that 72% of expenditure in mobile app stores is dominated by mobile games.
Many games do have in-game purchases, and most of the time, it’s about cosmetics. But despite how good the cosmetics are, hackers are still able to get into the game by using a small crack in the system and gain profits from there by stealing the users’ credentials. So, each company should always pay attention to this problem and make sure that all the holes are covered completely.
3. Reverse Engineering Has Become Easier
Have you ever heard about reverse engineering before?
Reverse engineering is a kind of activity to deconstruct something in order to know how it actually works. In general, the process takes a lot of time and patience. Since mobile games tend to have less protection, hackers can exploit certain games in some ways they have in mind.
They will look for the unsecured codes and start from there. By using those codes, they can basically take control of the game. They can get around the licenses and purchases without actually spending anything. Of course, this kind of action would hurt companies in their finances and reputation. However, developers should understand the importance of secure code and to do so, Code Signing certificate is a primary security. It assures users that the code has not been modified since it is signed. Users will have no worries in downloading such software, drivers.
4. Rising Malware Risks
Logically, people would play games that are popular, like GTA V or The Sims, for example. But did you know that these games are actually the reasons why the number of malware is rising?
People who have limited access will try to download these games via untrusted websites. By tying “GTA V Free Download” on the search bar, they will basically be given links to malicious and questionable websites. Even some of them can inhabit the first page of Google search.
By downloading files from the sites, users are basically setting a time bomb on their devices. The malware will work silently but is deadly. Although you can’t really feel the effect directly, the action will take some time to actually ruin the system and gain your personal data.
5. Augmented Reality Will Grow Eventually
In better news, the existence of VR and AR has revolutionized worldwide. People who usually use technology to play certain games are now starting to adapt to it. And thanks to the increase in interest, the demand for it has even rich billions in value. For AR alone, the market is valued at $15.3 billion.
At the end of 2020, the sold AR units were expected to meet at least 598 million, and the number keeps growing faster and faster as time goes on.
