Cybersecurity and Metaverse: what risks and how to defend yourself

Let’s face it: the metaverso is set to transform the way businesses operate, so some attention needs to be paid to it as well cybersecuritytrying to figure out which ones risks you can run and how to defend yourself.

He is convinced of it Marco Fanuli, Security Engineer Team Leader di Check Point Softwarewho wrote a report on the relationship between computer security and the metaverse.

Cybersecurity e metaverso

Fanuli’s report starts from the theory of Gartneraccording to which by 2026 one in four people will spend at least an hour of their time in the metaverse reasons such as: work, shopping, education, social media activity or just entertainment.

As a result, more and more companies will become part of the virtual realityexploiting it as a new channel for doing business.

But, and this is where Fanuli’s questions start, “are the companies themselves worrying about the risks? In a virtual world we will no doubt need a different approach to security than we do in the physical world, but what will that mean in terms of cyber security strategy? The time has come to understand what are the risks we will face and how to start preparing”.

The main obstacle for the metaverse to be considered a safe place is in its foundations, as it was built using the blockchain technologythus inevitably placing gods privacy and security issues.

According to Marco Fanuli, therefore, we won’t have to wait long before seeing the first attacks in the metaverse, hitting digital identities with related violation of user accounts and compromise of sensitive data.

Additionally, with more and more people having multiple identities to use in the metaverse to go about their business, identity theft could become another constant, as it will be difficult to control all of them.

Redesign reality

Although cybersecurity has made great strides, the metaverse calls everything into question: in a juxtaposition with the dawn of the internet, having a similar space available almost, if not completely, without security makes it attractive to cybercriminals, that certainly there will be no hesitation in attacking it.

Several researchers have, among other things, discovered some security holes within blockchain and crypto projects that are part of the metaversecracks that could be used by cybercriminals to attack VR users.

Probably for some these concerns could be considered excessive, but in reality they are also the result of another alarm bell: the lack of professionals in charge. Indeed, according to the report (ISC) Cybersecurity Workforce Study del 2021 and quoting Fanuli again, “at least 3 million professionals are missing and the current workforce in the sector must grow by 65% ​​to be able to effectively defend the critical resources of companies. A percentage that is probably much higher, if we also consider the new virtual world“.

Hence another question: the metaverse is worth investing in?

Yes, if we consider that it will be one of the business and social channels of the future and it is essential to start talking about what is wrong, such as security holes, to be prepared for tomorrow. Companies, in particular, will have to make a huge leap of faith and organization in making a common front in the face of the cyber threats of the future, making some available to users protection tools and instilling in them the awareness of how essential it is to protect themselves even in the metaverse.