A new report highlights increasing cyber-attacks on the online gaming community, mostly due to the lack of safe online practices by gamers. Gamers tend to compromise their online security to get their hands on cheats and other competitive edges in games.
HIGHLIGHTS
On average, gamers in India are being duped at around Rs 8,000 through every cyber-attack.
Gamers are also being targeted with malicious software and account takeovers.
A new report claims that many gamers tend to have complete disregard for online safety to gain a competitive edge in the games.
The online gaming industry is exploding with new participants as people rush in to play or watch their favourite games through their preferred gaming platform. This surge of gamers in the segment has not gone unnoticed by the threat actors present online, and a new report now warns that these miscreants are increasingly targeting gamers online, even duping them of their hard-earned money in the process.
The insights have been shared in a new report by cyber security major Norton. Titled Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report: Special Release Gaming & Cybercrime, the report mentions that every 3 in 4 gamers surveyed in India have experienced a cyberattack at one time or the other. Of these, a majority have experienced a considerable financial impact due to the cyberattack.
In numbers, this impact was calculated to an average of Rs 7,894 for every four out of five gamers who were victims of a cyber-attack. This means more than 80 per cent of targeted gamers suffered from such a loss on average. Other than the financial loss, many victims (about 35 per cent) complained of having malicious software on their gaming devices through a cyber-attack. Others (29 per cent) detected unauthorized access to their online gaming account.
Through such cyber-attacks, over 2 in 5 gamers have been tricked into compromising their personal security. In addition, 28 per cent were the victims of downloading malware onto a gaming device, while 26 per cent were tricked into sharing account information online. Notably, 1 in 5 gamers have been doxed, i.e., had personal information stolen and shared publicly online, without their consent.
Cheat attempts to blame
The findings come from a global study conducted by The Harris Poll that accounts for responses from adults aged 18+ across eight countries, including 703 Indian adults who play online games. Other than the risks faced by the gamer community, the survey also aimed to identify the online security attitudes and behaviours of gamers.
The findings hint that the gamers themselves are to be blamed for compromising the security of their gaming account or device. It highlights that gamers are willing to take actions that could compromise their security simply to give themselves a competitive edge within the game.
Every 2 in 5 Indian gamers (about 42 per cent) said that they are "at least somewhat likely" to hack into the account of a friend, family member, or romantic partner if they knew it would give them a competitive advantage. About 56 per cent of respondents confirmed that they might exploit a loophole or bug in a game to give themselves a competitive advantage.
At least every 2 in 5 respondents said they would even consider paying to take possession of another user’s gaming account. Around 46 per cent said they might install cheats to their gaming account or gaming device for winning, while 39 per cent said they could hack into the gaming account of a random player.
The report highlights the huge disregard for cyber safety among the growing gamer community. This, along with the fact that threat actors are more active in cyberspace than ever, makes a dangerous cocktail for the gamer community online and calls for urgent attention of the gamers towards safe practices online.
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