New Trend Micro report uncovers the 'darkverse' and its threat to
MEA enterprises
Dubai,
UAE, Sep 2022 –Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704;
TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today released a
new report titled 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.
This could provide a haven for multiple threats to flourish—from financial
fraud and e-commerce scams to NFT theft, ransomware, and more.
As per
the report, cybercriminals might look to compromise the “digital twin” spaces
run by critical infrastructure operators, for sabotage or extortion of
industrial systems. Although a fully-fledged
metaverse is still some years away, metaverse-like spaces will be commonplace
much sooner. Trend Micro’s report seeks to start an urgent dialog about what
cyber threats to expect and how they could be mitigated.
“We have witnessed an
accelerated stage of evolution in technology, 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 experiences of the metaverse into our
daily lives. The unpredictability of the modern digital era has prompted us to
take a proactive approach and prepare for malicious actors who are seeking to
exploit vulnerabilities in the metaverse. Trend Micro will continue to explore,
innovate, and build solutions that resiliently safeguard the region's digital
journey against modern-day threats as cybersecurity becomes a top priority for
organizations.”
The
top five metaverse threats outlined in the report are:
·
NFTs will be hit by
phishing, ransomware, fraud, and other
attacks, which will be increasingly targeted as they become an important
metaverse commodity to regulate ownership.
·
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 have a profound
impact in a cyber-physical world. Influential narratives will be employed by
criminals and state actors targeting vulnerable groups who are sensitive to
certain topics.
·
Privacy will be redefined, as
metaverse-like space operators will have unprecedented visibility into user
actions – essentially when using their worlds within the metaverse.
About
Trend Micro
Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity
leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Fueled by
decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous
innovation, Trend Micro's cybersecurity platform protects
hundreds of thousands of organizations and millions of individuals across
clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise
cybersecurity, the platform delivers a powerful range of advanced threat defence techniques optimized for environments like
AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for better, faster detection
and response. With 7,000 employees across 65 countries, Trend Micro enables
organizations to simplify and secure their connected world. www.TrendMicro.com.
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