Kaspersky reports growth in gamer cyberattacks in 2023, ETCIO SEA

The global gaming community, which currently accounts for nearly half of the world’s population, has found itself increasingly under fire by cybercriminals, according to a comprehensive investigation by Kaspersky. In the period spanning from July 2022 to July 2023, the cybersecurity company discovered the growing vulnerability of the gaming user base. Cybercriminals exploited this vast community to access personal data, launching a range of attacks, including web vulnerabilities, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, cryptocurrency mining, and complex Trojan or phishing campaigns.

In the period from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023, Kaspersky’s solutions detected a substantial 4,076,530 attempts to download 30,684 unique files masked as popular games, mods, cheats, and other game-related software. These incidents affected 192,456 users worldwide. These files – primarily classified as unwanted software and often labeled as not-a-virus:Downloader (89.70%), – are not innately perilous, but they are capable of downloading various other programs, even malicious ones, onto the user’s device. Adware (5.25%) and Trojans (2.39%) were also noteworthy threats to desktop gamers.

Minecraft emerged as the favored target among cybercriminals, responsible for triggering 70.29% of all alerts. The threats using Minecraft as bait impacted 130,619 players across the globe during the reporting period. Roblox was the second most targeted game title, contributing to 20.37% of all alerts affecting 30,367 users. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (4.78%), PUBG (2.85%), Hogwarts Legacy (0.60%), DOTA 2 (0.45%), and League of Legends (0.31%) were also among the prominent games subjected to cyber threats.

The mobile gaming community, which, according to the Newzoo 2023 report consists of over three billion gamers, or nearly 40% of the world’s population, is characterized by its significant growth and accessibility, and has become an enticing target for cybercriminals. Between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, Kaspersky documented 436,786 attempts to infect mobile devices, impacting 84,539 users.

Various game titles were employed as bait to target mobile…