With more people joining these new virtual worlds every day, companies and organizations need to develop new ways of security to protect everyone. The business opportunities that NFTs and the Metaverse bring attract not only global brands but also hackers and thieves that need to be stopped.
How are Cybersecurity and the Metaverse Related?
Many people still debate about what the Metaverse is, but the truth is that it’s gaining a lot of popularity non-stop, and it’ll take a bigger part in the future. Of course, this includes blockchains and existing web interfaces, but security is an afterthought for many companies that need to reinforce it.
More tools will be developed over time, especially for businesses and individuals that need to fight against certain challenges of Metaverse cybersecurity.
These issues include ensuring digital ownership of virtual goods such as NFTs, preventing fraud, and protecting personal information, seeds and logins. In addition, social engineering, cyberattack risks, blockchain shortcomings, money laundering risks, and crypto assets are also contemplated.
Why is Metaverse Cybersecurity So Important?
The Metaverse is an economic activity: playing with crypto tokens, streaming for advertising revenue, attending meetings, trading collectibles, and more. This builds an online presence in the Metaverse and has real-world financial value.
Even if it is subtle, most of the Metaverse-related activities have a sense or style of fantasy combined with the gaming world, which can make some people not be careful with their actions. Others display certain actions that they do not reflect in real life but can have implications depending on the reputation.
Weak security, monetary financial activity, and vulnerability to think that a simple chat is harmless can be a powerful combination for malicious actors to exploit. That’s why always being aware and careful about what’s being done in the Metaverse takes extreme relevance for everyone.
How Does It Relate to Businesses?
While most are already involved in it, most businesses are just beginning to experiment with the Metaverse’s financial, promotional, and entertainment aspects. It has yet to be determined how the Metaverse will develop in the future, but there are following potential cases of enterprises that need this security.
This includes virtual conferences, art galleries, sales, meetings, in-game and in-market advertising, purchasing virtual lands, land parking, virtual buildings, and digital production.
At the same time, one of the fastest-growing businesses in the Metaverse is the gaming “play-to-earn” method, which became highly popular among low-income players. Players can earn cryptocurrency by playing and competing, from $5 to $50 per day.
These methods can bring the attention of many scammers and hackers, so cybersecurity needs to focus on preventing such situations.
Security in NFTs and Digital Marketplaces
For long years, many communities of players have been spending lots of hours making and building creations in Metaverses such as Second Life. These designs became part of the game for others to use too, but with NFTs, the whole situation changed, not allowing for tracking the ownership of it.
Massive online games like Second Life and World of Warcraft allowed in-game ownership because it was centralized for one owner instead of public and exchangeable.
Blockchain Metaverses use these NFTs to develop new lands, weapons, buildings, and many avatars that can be sold anywhere for hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
Such a thing brings a major risk to the equation: theft and fraud. While the first one is more difficult to perform since people hold the cryptographic key, some users still need to learn how to secure it properly. Meanwhile, fraud can always happen among people who aren’t careful enough when buying an NFT.
Cybersecurity measures always advise users of the Metaverse to stay within legit and official marketplaces where reliable sellers can be found.
The Issue of Identity Gaps
Most people and businesses in the Metaverse do not use their real identities. Instead, users usually identify themselves with pseudonyms, handles or nicknames they can relate to. It is relatively easy to fake a company or brand name to scam people.
While blockchain services have provided and promoted the use of monickers as a way to protect people’s identities, this also turns into a major risk. Fake identities allow users to engage in many unethical activities and behaviors and get away with them without real consequences.
Adding to that, most cryptocurrency holders often use VPNs, making it almost impossible to detect where the attacker comes from.
In decentralized systems, it’s almost impossible to track and monitor every Metaverse to find the people behind this. As a result, companies and developers are still undecided on how to resolve these kinds of frauds and what authorities can do since they do not have jurisdiction most of the time.
Concerns of Money Laundering
It may not count strictly as a security concern for many, but cryptocurrency and assets have been used for various money laundering activities for years. This happens because crypto can be moved within seconds, leaving no time to react.
Tax regulations have also failed to keep up with this kind of technology since Metaverse assets frequently find themselves inadvertently evading or reporting the requirements of taxes. The only partial solution is consulting a lawyer to stay on the good side of the law.
What Can Be Done to Address Risks?
Platform owners of the Metaverse should seize the opportunity to collaborate with a set of mandates where everyone agrees and adheres to a strict code of conduct. Such things would show leadership and awareness about cybersecurity, leading to other worlds adapting it.
Taking the time also to understand the security and privacy of a platform while examining services can ensure safety in those places.
Another vital point to ensure Metaverse security is reputation. The success of virtual worlds is created by the platform itself and the users who use it (owners and renters). The key pillars of trust building are cybersecurity, impact, and positive marketing campaigns promoting safety.
For example, teams like Exonite can promote NFTs, community growth, and other PR methods to boost a brand or project. This can be extremely beneficial to promote the sale or buying of assets free from scams and dealt with by respectable and legit people.
Related to consumers, everyone needs to make an effort to understand that they always need to be vigilant and careful, especially when it comes to sharing information. Proactively reaching out to platform owners for data verification before moving is vital if the user needs clarification on the precedency.
Conclusion
The Metaverse is an amazingly interesting virtual world that promises to revolutionize the Internet entirely, but at the same time, it has many risks that still need to be solved. Among the most important ones, data theft and scams are the ones people suffer most.
In addition, blockchains are built in a way that completely promotes anonymity, meaning that people can easily access and create alter egos, faking personalities quickly. All of this is very important to address, especially to achieve Metaverse cybersecurity standards where everyone is safe.
