التكنولوجيا وأخبارها بوابة الإمارات لتكنولوجيا المعلومات والإتصالات
Gaming-related web attacks increased by more than 50% in April
Cybercriminals have been exploiting the increased
popularity in video games during lockdown to launch
attacks. In April, the daily number of blocked attempts to
direct Kaspersky users to malicious sites that exploit the
gaming theme increased by 54% when compared to
January 2020. In addition, for April, the number of blocked
attempts to direct users to phishing pages for one of the
most popular gaming platforms increased by 40%
compared to February 2020.
This spring, millions of people around the world were
relegated to staying inside, as many countries enforced
some form of lockdown measures or movement
restrictions. With more people at home and greater
amounts of free time on their hands, many turned to
available online entertainment, including video games.
Beginning in March, the overall number of Steam users (the
most popular online gaming platform, community, and
store) increased significantly, with the platform reaching an
all-time record for both active users and concurrent users
actively playing games by March 30.
Upon noticing this trend, Kaspersky researchers decided to
look deeper into the threat landscape of video games
during the lockdown period. What they found—not
surprisingly—was that cybercriminals have been exploiting
the increased interested in video games to launch various
attacks.
According to data from Kaspersky Security Network, there
was a significant increase in the daily number of attempts
to direct users to malicious sites that exploited the gaming
theme: a 54% increase in April when compared to January.
Often times, users are lured by promises such as free
versions of popular games, updates and extensions, or
cheats. However, if users click on these links, a wide variety
of malicious programs can be downloaded, from password
stealing malware to ransomware and miners, software that
secretly mines cryptocurrency from the victim’s computer.
Daily numbers of web attacks that use the theme of online
games as a lure, January-May 2020
The game most often used by criminals was Minecraft, one
of the most popular games ever made. Its name was used
in more than 130,000 web attacks. The other most popular
games used in attacks were Counter Strike: Global
Offensive and The Witcher 3.
What’s more, according to statistics from Kaspersky’s Anti-
Phishing System, compared with February, the number of
blocked redirects to phishing pages that contained the
word “Steam” increased by 40% in April.
“Many of these video game-related attacks are not
particularly sophisticated; there is a large user component
to their success. The past few months have shown that
users are highly susceptible to falling for phishing attacks
or clicking on malicious links when it comes to games—
whether they’re looking to find pirated versions or eager
for a cheat that will help them win,” comments Maria
Namestnikova, security expert at Kaspersky.
“Now that many players started using the same machines
that they use to enter corporate networks for games, their
cautiousness should be doubled: risky actions make not
only personal data or money vulnerable but also corporate
resources. When working from home, if possible, try to
avoid mixing your personal computer with the one you use
for accessing corporate network,” adds Yury Namestnikov,
security expert at Kaspersky.
Read more about video game-related cybercrime on Securelist.
To stay safe from attacks while playing video games,
Kaspersky experts recommend:
• Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication
(2FA) where possible to protect your video-gaming accounts
• Be wary of any cheats and pirated copies of video-games,
since it’s one of the favorite lures used by cybercriminals
• Use a reliable security solution like Kaspersky Security
Cloud that identifies malicious downloads, blocks phishing
sites, and prevents redirects to malicious pages
• During the game, don’t switch off your security solution,
but turn on gaming mode, which consumes less resources
