The metaverse is a virtual world where everything and everyone interacts in the same way as the real world. The metaverse has its digital economy, where users can create, buy, and sell products. It is also interoperable, allowing users to transfer virtual objects such as clothing or cars from one platform to another. People in the metaverse can have their own virtual identities, avatars, and possessions, allowing them to create a virtual persona they can carry with them wherever they go.
The cybersecurity risks currently existing online will be amplified by the metaverse, along with several additional risks. According to research, cyber threats and cybercrimes are expanding rapidly, by 50% or more annually. According to recent estimates, cybercrime will cost more than $10 trillion annually by 2025, and significant businesses such as real estate, education, and agriculture are the focus of cybercrime.
Identity Security
The metaverse is designed to work with digital avatars that each user creates for them. This avatar will be unique and secure, allowing the real human it represents to use their personally identifying information (PII) and other sensitive information to make purchases, work, and even receive healthcare.
Additionally, the user can interact with others in the digital world, including working with colleagues in a digital office with the help of metaverse.
If a hacker gains access to the digital avatar of any person, they can gain access to entire data from financial accounts to PII, as the digital avatar is just a fundamental skeleton key to personal online information. It can also endanger the real-world safety of a person.
The “deepfake,” in which criminals identify themselves as someone else on the digital platform, is a concerning type of identity theft. Celebrities and regular people have both been included in deepfake videos created online using technology that is so advanced that it is practically hard to tell the difference between the deepfake and the real person.
Biometrics and data hacks
The risk of biometric hacking is one of the most concerning cybersecurity threats in the metaverse. Users will need to use VR headsets and, maybe, other VR/AR technology, such as haptic gloves, as the metaverse relies on VR/AR to function.
It can be used for biometric identification in certain areas of the metaverse, such as iris scanning. Critics worry that hackers might obtain access to these biometrics, allowing them to access private information about the user’s health and physical condition and sensitive accounts.
For example, platforms like meta have access to biometric data on their end-users; those data archives can be hacked or sold without the consent of the end-user.
NFT and bitcoin scam
The metaverse will operate on its own currency, including cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs and cryptocurrencies can be acquired, exchanged, spent, or lost in the metaverse in the same way fiat money is used in the real world; the process starts with purchasing these digital currencies with traditional money.
Even though the metaverse is still in its early stage, it has already experienced various kinds of fraud. In 2021 more than $14 billion in cryptocurrency was estimated to be lost to fraudsters.
Therefore, blockchain technology’s involvement in metaverse theft makes it nearly impossible for law enforcement to find the culprit. It is due to the decentralized nature of blockchain, which erases all evidence of the chain of possession.
Physical safety
The immersive nature of the metaverse could endanger users’ physical security in the real world. For instance, if a hacker gains access to a user’s account, they might be able to control what their avatar hears, sees, and does in the virtual world.
On the other hand, activity in the metaverse can easily translate into activity in the physical world. A hacker can change the metaverse’s settings so that the user reacts physically without being aware of their immediate surroundings. This could even put users’ lives in danger, as hackers could trick them into walking into traffic or down a flight of stairs without realizing it.
Data breaches
One significant issue in the real world that may also affect virtual reality is the invasion of user privacy by tech businesses when users leave data trails throughout the metaverse.
For instance, in the 2018 Facebook and Cambridge Analytica incident, millions of users’ data were collected and utilized without their consent. If strict laws are not put in place to protect users, more data may be available for these businesses to exploit in the metaverse.
When users are wearing devices like virtual reality headsets, companies can gather data through their head and eye movement or voice. It is a serious problem for the virtual world.
To ensure safety in the metaverse, it is important for businesses to train their staff well to combat cybersecurity issues.
The metaverse has the potential to transform how we work, learn, play, and socialize. However, the metaverse’s cybersecurity threats are very real, and governments, metaverse creators, and private citizens must understand and guard against these dangers.
