The landscape of digital threats facing consumers is constantly changing, and the Russian research center “Kaspersky” provides a number of key ideas about what this landscape will look like in 2023, and presents a list of topics that cybercriminals are likely to exploit in the coming year.
Anna Larkina, web content analysis expert at Kaspersky, said that the lures used by fraudsters vary greatly depending on the seasons, major events, news headlines, etc. It targets users for shopping and back-to-school discounts, major art events like the Grammy and Oscar awards, big movie premieres, new smartphone announcements, new game releases, and more.
“The list of exploits goes on and on, as cybercriminals quickly adapt to new social, political, economic and cultural trends, and come up with new fraudulent schemes to take advantage of different situations and situations,” she added.
Games and streaming services
The rise in fraud attempts in game subscriptions, PlayStation Plus began to compete with the GamePass service for game subscriptions, allowing subscribers to expand the playing of PlayStation games on their personal computers, in an effort by Sony to increase its market share.
And the higher the percentage of subscribers to gaming subscription services, the greater the number of fraud schemes based on the idea of selling game keys and attempts to steal accounts. These schemes can be similar to the TV scams that have been spotted over the past years.
Exploiting the shortage of gaming hardware. The shortage in the supply of gaming devices, which witnessed a slight decline in 2022, may start to rise again in 2023, prompted by the release of the PS VR 2 virtual reality helmet from “Sony”, which only works on the PS5 gaming device, which will make it a reason convincing many users to buy this device.
Another factor is expected to be the introduction of a “professional” version of the device, about which rumors began to circulate in the middle of this year, and it may create more demand than can be met.
The report anticipates a campaign of exploitation attempts that take advantage of the expected shortage of gaming hardware, including fake pre-sale offers, alleged discounts or free distributions, as well as fake copies of online stores claiming to sell hard-to-find devices.
High demand among cybercriminals for virtual currencies traded in electronic games.
With most modern games including the ability for players to monetize the sale of in-game items and boosters, as well as the use of in-game currency, these games have become prime targets for cybercriminals who deal directly with money.
In-game items and money are among the main targets for attackers who steal player accounts.
Last summer, cyberthieves stole $2 million worth of items from an account they hacked.
Scammers may trick their victims into fraudulent in-game deals to obtain valuables from them.
Next year, we expect new schemes to resell or steal virtual currencies.
Cybercriminals are exploiting long-awaited games. This year, a cybercriminal claimed that dozens of GTA 6 videos were leaked.
The year 2023 is likely to witness more attacks related to games scheduled for release, such as Diablo IV, Alan Wake 2, and Stalker 2.
It is also expected that there will be an increase in fraud attempts targeting users of these games, as well as in Trojans disguised as the names of these games.
TV broadcasts are an unlimited source of income for cybercriminals. Every year, broadcast TV services produce more exclusive content that is broadcast on exclusive platforms.
Many TV series and programs have become more than just an entertainment resource, but rather a cultural phenomenon that influences fashion and social trends.
More attacks using Trojans distributed using streaming services like Netflix as bait, and various phishing and fraud schemes targeting their users are expected, given the list of movies and TV shows set to premiere in 2023.
Social media and metaverse
New social media will bring more dangers to privacy. We would like to see the near future witnessing a new revolutionary phenomenon in the world of social networks. This may have happened in Virtual Reality, but rather it will happen in Augmented Reality.
As soon as a trendy app becomes popular, dangers will accompany its users. Privacy will likely be a major concern, as many startups ignore the need to configure their applications according to privacy protection best practices.
This situation can lead to a higher risk of personal data breaches and cyberbullying in new social media, no matter how modern and relevant they may be.
Exploiting the world of metaverse
The world is currently taking its first steps towards full immersion in virtual reality. Metaverse technology is being used for entertainment, while industrial and commercial applications are being tested.
Despite the lack of metaverse platforms currently available, it revealed dangers that users will face in the future.
The “universal” experience of Metaverse and its failure to comply with regional data protection laws, such as the European General Data Protection Regulation, may lead to complex conflicts between the requirements of the regulations regarding notification of a data breach.
Virtual abuse and sexual assaults will extend to the world of Metaverse, where cases of rape and assaults of virtual characters have been seen, despite efforts to build appropriate protection mechanisms for this world. However, the lack of specific regulatory rules is likely to continue this disturbing trend until 2023.