According to Google data, there are around 304.1 million players in Latin America, which represents a huge cybersecurity challenge for the area, as it is an ideal scenario for criminals to attack their victims, who feel safe in the gaming environment and are focused on having fun and not so much on examining.
A sample of the increase in this problem are the data provided by the cybersecurity company ESET, throughout an industry that creates $7.2 trillion and in which the mobile market represents 48% of those revenues. A quite attractive scenario for cybercrime.
That is why games like Roblox, Minecraft and Call of Duty, in their mobile versions, are the most used to steal money from players through deception techniques, because phishing is the primary attack procedure.
Cyberattacks in video games in Latin America
Throughout the ESET Computer Stability Forum, a sequence of data was presented that serves as a call to attention to the entire gaming society to really look at each correspondence they receive, each code they use, and generally the information they provide in video games.
In Latin America, a constant number of threats are shown directed at gamers.
“The gaming market interests cybercriminals because the customer is mainly more careless. The player usually feels confident in knowing the environment could be dangerous“, said Martina Lopez, a cybersecurity expert, throughout the event.
To make these attacks, different platforms are used such as emails and SMS, as primary channels, but they also appear on social networks, web search engines, streaming platforms and applications.
Through these means, criminals use malicious codes, cracked files and faulty or modified games. However, also, through phishing, situations are generated such as problems with accounts or in-game rewards, inviting the customer to enter any link where the attack is created.
“Recently, the phishing technique is an important topic, which is what we have been able to see through the examples. While it is true that it has been around for years, it is a technique that does not have free time and is one of the most used by attackers. And this way it will continue,” mentioned Mario Micucci, ESET’s Computer Stability Researcher for Latin America, to Forbes.
The most used games
The mobile gaming environment is the most used by criminals, primarily because that is where the largest source of income in the industry is from the transactions that are made daily in game purchases.
Titles like Roblox, Minecraft and Call of Duty are the ones affected in Latin America, a key point since at least 2 of the first ones are in huge demand.
According to ESET data, Roblox has presented 102 impersonation threats so far in 2022, the number in Minecraft is 249 and Call of Duty 61. In this scenario, Peru is the territory that has presented the most cases with 33%, followed by Mexico with 14%, Ecuador with 9%, and Argentina with 8%.
3 of the most frequent threats were: @Trojan.Android/TrojanDropper.Agent, which deals with installing apps invisibly to play advertising, also @Trojan.LNK/Agent, which enables installing other malicious files, and @Worm.Win32/Agent, which is directly a malware that steals data.
In conclusion, according to data from Google, there are around 304.1 million players in Latin America, which represents a huge cybersecurity challenge for the area. The gaming industry is a prime target for cybercriminals, as it is an ideal scenario for them to attack their victims who feel secure in the gaming world and are focused on having fun rather than being vigilant. The gaming industry generates 7.2 billion dollars and the mobile market represents 48% of those revenues. Roblox, Minecraft, and Call of Duty, in their mobile versions, are the most used games to steal money from players through deception techniques, with phishing being the main attack method. Cyberattacks in video games in Latin America are on the rise, and players must be aware of the risks and take precautions to protect their personal information.
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