New Report Uncovers Looming Threat In The Metaverse

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As per Trend Micro, the “darkverse” will resemble a metaverse version of the dark web, enabling threat actors to coordinate and carry out illegal activities with impunity.

Metaverse marketing is the future of marketing. People can interact with each other, buy and sell things, and live out their dreams in the virtual reality world of the metaverse. Trend Micro released a report, Metaverse or Metaworse? Cybersecurity Threats Against the Internet of Experiences warning of a “darkverse” of criminality hidden from law enforcement, which could quickly evolve to fuel a new industry of metaverse-related cybercrime.

As per Trend Micro, the “darkverse” will resemble a metaverse version of the dark web, enabling threat actors to coordinate and carry out illegal activities with impunity. Underground marketplaces operating in the “darkverse” would be impossible for police to infiltrate without the correct authentication tokens. Because users can only access a “darkverse” world if they are inside a designated physical location, there is an additional level of protection for closed criminal communities. It could provide a haven for multiple threats to flourish—from financial fraud and ecommerce scams to NFT theft, ransomware, and more.

According to the report, cybercriminals might look to compromise the “digital twin” spaces run by critical infrastructure operators to sabotage or industrial extortion systems. Although a full-fledged metaverse is still some years away, metaverse-like spaces will be commonplace much sooner. Trend Micro’s report seeks to start an urgent dialogue about what cyber threats to expect and mitigation.

“We have witnessed an accelerated technological evolution, with the metaverse providing a new dynamic to how we see the world,” said Dr Moataz Bin Ali, Area Vice President and Managing Director, MEA for Trend Micro. “Even though there has been a healthy progression, we are still in the early phases of incorporating the metaverse experiences into our daily lives. The unpredictability of the modern digital era has prompted us to take a proactive approach and prepare for malicious actors seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in the metaverse. Trend Micro will continue exploring, innovating, and building solutions that resiliently safeguard the region’s digital journey against modern-day threats as cybersecurity becomes a top priority for organisations.”

The top five metaverse threats outlined in the report are:

• NFTs are metaverse commodities to regulate ownership and risk phishing, ransomware, fraud, and other attacks.
• The darkverse will become the go-to place for conducting illegal/criminal activities because it will be difficult to trace, monitor, and infiltrate by law enforcement.
• Money laundering using overpriced metaverse real estate and NFTs will provide a new outlet for criminals to clean cash.
• Social engineering, propaganda, and fake news will profoundly impact a cyber-physical world. Criminals and state actors will circulate compelling narratives targeting vulnerable groups who are sensitive to specific topics.
• Privacy will need redefining, as metaverse-like space operators will have unprecedented visibility into user actions when using their worlds within the metaverse.