The Esports fever is taking over the world. From League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to Player’s Unknown Battleground Mobile, there are many world-class esports tournaments that are held across the world for all the popular video games. These games are played by millions of players from around the globe and the Esports Industry is estimated to be well over $100 billion worldwide and in the past few years, the industry has seen significant growth, especially during the pandemic.
Esports are all fun until the hackers make their move and create problems for the players. Esports is a growing industry and it has turned into a target for hackers and cyber attackers like a shining diamond because there is so much potential in it. In this, the video games are mainly distributed among the players through online platforms such as Stream, EA Origin, Battle.net, etc, and these platforms have the personal information of millions of users from across the world such as their name, birth date, credit card information, etc and these platforms regularly become a target of the cyber attackers who wish to exploit any security vulnerabilities in these platforms and get access to sensitive information.
And that is not where it stops, the cyber threats against the gaming industry go beyond these gaming platforms and giant esports conventions, tournaments, and events, etc are targeted by the cyber attackers and these are a big targets for attackers since there is public Wi-Fi available during these events.
Why is the eSports/Gaming Industry an attractive target?
There are many reasons why cyberattackers are drooling over the esports/gaming industry but let’s have a look at some of the most important reasons:
Digital Purchases
Nowadays, you would hardly find anyone making a purchase of a game in real life, instead, most people never buy the physical copy of a game. They buy games through online platforms such as Steam and EA Origin and this is one of the obvious reasons why cybersecurity for esports is so important.
Whenever you make an online purchase, there is a digital footprint left behind in the form of credit card information that is stored on online platforms, hackers and cyberattackers try their best to get a hold of credit card information of the users so they can easily steal all their money. And for hackers, stealing credit card information is much easier when the purchase is done online as compared to a physical purchase.
An abundance of online platforms
The popularity of online games and their increasing demand have resulted in an abundance of online platforms. Not only are there online gaming platforms but there are also online shops, games clients, and other digital platforms available and all of these platforms store the online purchase information of millions of different clients. With an abundance of online platforms, it is much easier for cybercriminals to target multiple platforms and find a vulnerable spot in any one of those platforms instead of focusing on a single platform.
Popularity of Online Games
Prior to the rise of esports, almost everyone used to play video games offline without any connection with the internet but in the past few years, this has changed dramatically. Online gaming and online games have become more popular than ever and it is the golden era for online gamers where they can experience the joy of playing with their friends online. Not only playing with friends but also becoming a professional esports player and playing on the highest level. However, playing games online requires internet connectivity all the time and as a result, our devices, networks, and game clients are more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
In India, certain other games besides video games and esports have become really popular. This includes games such as Teer Result played in Khanapara, Shillong and Jowai in North India and Nagaland Lottery Sambad which is played in the State of Nagaland, West Bengal and Sikkim.
Esports Events
Most of the esports and online gaming events are huge and they are usually LAN events where no player has any sort of internet or ping advantage over other players. These LAN events are attended by thousands of people who cheer for their favorite teams but during those events, there are greater chances of cyberattacks. During such events, there is almost a public Wi-Fi network and it can easily be exploited by cybercriminals who are there just to steal other’s information.
These were some of the reasons why the esports and online gaming industry is such a huge target for cyberattackers. Since it is a huge industry and this industry has the potential to generate so much revenue, investments should be made in cybersecurity to make gaming more secure. Cybercriminals are always on the lookout for a vulnerable spot but the gaming experience must be secure in every way possible by taking help from cybersecurity experts, using tailor-made solutions, and adding many layers of security to prevent any mishap from happening.
Disclaimer: This content is sponsored. No TNIE Group journalist is involved in its creation.