The video game industry is at an all-time high now as the lockdown forced people to stay indoors and find new ways to stay entertained. Although things are now getting back to normal, the gaming industry is set to witness more growth. However, this rapid growth raises questions on user security as gaming-related attacks have also witnessed a rise.
Some stats your way
- Around 303,827 users were faced with gaming-related malware and other unwanted software, while 69,224 files were propagated under the pretense of 24 most played PC games.
- The number of impacted mobile users grew by 185% at the start of the pandemic and to date, has only decreased by 10%.
- The most impersonated PC games are MInecraft, PUBG, Fortnite, The Sims 4, and Grand Theft Auto V.
- The most impersonated mobile games include Minecraft, Among Us, and PUBG Mobile.
What else?
While we are on the topic of cyberthreats faced by the gaming industry, we need to talk about digital fraud. The digital fraud trend has shifted from businesses and consumers to the gaming and travel industries.
- In 2020, the global gaming industry observed a rise of 393% in digital fraud attempts.
- The U.S. alone faced a 261.9% rise in digital fraud attempts against the gaming industry.
- In Q2 2021, 36% of consumers in a survey conducted by TransUnion stated to have been targeted by at least one digital fraud attempt.
Why this matters
Jumping into the party philosophy of gaming tournaments and online rush, threat actors have managed to stay inconspicuous and lure targets into giving up their details. While most threats disseminated to targets consist of unwanted apps, a smaller portion of them is laden with stealthy malware variants. In addition to this, cybercriminals invest in promoting their malware landing pages, which can even end up at the top of search engine results.
The bottom line
As threat actors continue to target gamers, it is incumbent on gaming firms to ensure the safety of their consumers. Nevertheless, as cybersecurity is not only dependent on organizations, individuals should safeguard their data by implementing 2FA, using strong passwords, and downloading games from official app stores.
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