Akamai Report Reveals Broad, Persistent Cyber Attacks Targeting Video Game Players and Companies
"The fine line between virtual fighting and real world attacks is gone," said
The new report stresses that game players themselves are subjected to a steady barrage of criminal activity, largely through credential stuffing and phishing attacks. Akamai observed more than 100 billion credential stuffing attacks from
Phishing is the other primary form of attack used against gamers. In this method, bad actors create legitimate-looking websites related to a game or gaming platform with the goal of tricking players into revealing their login credentials.
Akamai also saw 10.6 billion web application attacks across its customers between
Between
While video games served as a major outlet for entertainment and social interaction during the COVID-19-driven lockdowns earlier in the year, criminals also took advantage of the pandemic. A notable spike in credential stuffing activity occurred as isolation protocols were instituted around the world. Much of the traffic was the result of criminals testing credentials from old data breaches in attempts to compromise new accounts created using existing username and password combinations.
Though many gamers have been hacked, far fewer appear to be concerned. In an upcoming survey of gamer attitudes toward security conducted by Akamai and DreamHack, 55 percent of the respondents who identify as "frequent players" admitted to having had an account compromised at some point; of those, only 20 percent expressed being "worried" or "very worried" about it.
The report posits that even though avid gamers might not recognize the value in the data associated with their accounts, criminals most certainly do.
The Akamai/DreamHack survey also found that gamers consider security to be a team effort, with 54 percent of the respondents who acknowledged being hacked in the past feeling it is a responsibility that should be shared between the gamer and game developer/company. The report outlines steps that gamers can take to protect themselves and their accounts such as using password managers and two-factor authentication along with unique, complicated passwords. It also points to resource pages that most game companies publish where gamers can opt in to additional security capabilities.
"Gaming has always brought communities together, so all of us at DreamHack want to ensure our valued communities of fans and players are protected from cyber attacks of this nature," said DreamHack Chief Strategy Officer
The fact remains: Gamers are highly targeted because they have several qualities that criminals look for. They're engaged and active in social communities. For the most part, they have disposable income, and they tend to spend it on their gaming accounts and gaming experiences. When these factors are combined, criminals see the gaming industry as a target-rich environment.
The Akamai 2020 State of the Internet / Security report, Gaming: You Can't Solo Security is available here. In addition, Akamai will host a webinar on
For additional information, the security community can access, engage with, and learn from Akamai's threat researchers and the insight that the Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform affords into the evolving threat landscape, visit Akamai's Threat Research Hub.
About Akamai
Akamai secures and delivers digital experiences for the world's largest companies. Akamai's intelligent edge platform surrounds everything, from the enterprise to the cloud, so customers and their businesses can be fast, smart, and secure. Top brands globally rely on Akamai to help them realize competitive advantage through agile solutions that extend the power of their multi-cloud architectures. Akamai keeps decisions, apps and experiences closer to users than anyone — and attacks and threats far away. Akamai's portfolio of edge security, web and mobile performance, enterprise access and video delivery solutions is supported by unmatched customer service, analytics and 24/7/365 monitoring. To learn why the world's top brands trust Akamai, visit www.akamai.com, blogs.akamai.com, or @Akamai on Twitter. You can find our global contact information at www.akamai.com/locations.
Akamai Contacts:
Chris Nicholson
Media Relations
+1 617-444-2987
cnichols@akamai.com
Tom Barth
Investor Relations
+1 617-274-7130
tbarth@akamai.com
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