eSport, or electronic sport, has experienced a huge boom in recent years. As the popularity grows, so does the amount of money invested in tournaments, attracting not only fans but also the interest of cybercriminals. [Start reading from HERE].
Attacks can have a major impact on the running of tournaments, the reputation of organisers and the overall perception of esports as a serious industry.
It is an important topic, especially at a time when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has voted to make esports officially part of the Olympic Games and have its own Olympics from 2025.
The video games industry has long since outgrown the film industry. Statista estimates that the video game industry will even reach $455 billion in revenue by 2024.
We register billions of players, thousands of esports teams, multimillion-dollar tournament prizes. And where there’s money, there are cybercriminals.
In this post, Check Point Software Technologies tells us how hackers can attack eSports tournaments:
1. DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks are one of the most common threats in esports. The aim is to overload servers, leading to outages and complications with gameplay or streaming.
This year, for example, the well-known team T1 and the LoL Champions Korea (LCK) tournament were attacked. The tournament in which T1 was participating even had to be suspended, with matches being postponed and not played publicly, which of course entails huge losses as sponsors and spectators expect the event to run smoothly. In addition, the T1 team stated that they could not even prepare properly for the tournament due to DDoS attacks.
2. Attacks on gaming accounts: hackers are also targeting the accounts of professional players to gain access to sensitive information.
Attackers often mimic official news and websites of well-known organisations, possibly offering various rewards and news.
But some phishing scams are much more sophisticated. For example, attackers were able to hack directly into the support of a major gaming company, 2K, so that fraudulent emails were sent out through official channels.
And even Czech players know about the risk of losing their accounts and in-game items. Martin “zur1s” Sláma, for example, lost his game account in a live CS:GO tournament. Not only was he unable to continue in the tournament, but he also had 300,000 CZK worth of in-game items stolen. Cyber attacks are therefore not only targeting the tournaments themselves, but also individual players.
3. Frauds and cheating: Some hackers try to gain an advantage in tournaments by cheating or using illegal software tools.
This may include the use of aimbots, wallhacks and other cheat tools. Or using cyber attacks to disadvantage opponents.
Hacker Destroyer2009, for example, caused confusion and complications during an esports tournament in the popular shooter Apex Legends earlier this year when he hacked two well-known streamers during the tournament to make it look like they were cheating.
4. In the past, Check Point has also uncovered vulnerabilities in the popular game Fortnite that hackers could exploit to steal accounts, data, and money, or to eavesdrop and spy.
Tournament organisers, teams and players must therefore take comprehensive security measures. Esports tournament operators must ensure that their servers and entire infrastructure are protected from DDoS attacks and other forms of cyber threats.
The ability to respond quickly to incidents is also crucial.
This means having standby cyber security teams that are able to intervene immediately in the event of an attack. Equally important is regular training to ensure an appropriate players and employees response in the event of suspicious activity.
Attention must also be paid to securing communication channels to prevent information leaks and to ensure that cybercriminals do not have additional weapons in their hands that they can use for extortion and targeted attacks.
Ensure secure accounts
At the same time, players must ensure that their accounts are secure with strong passwords and two-factor authentication. Professional teams should have dedicated security teams that monitor and protect players’ accounts from potential attacks and also train them regularly.
“Cyber security is a key factor for the success and integrity of esports tournaments. With the increasing number of attacks, it is imperative that tournament organisers, teams and players adopt comprehensive security measures and focus on prevention. Only with adequate cyber protection can esports continue to grow and move proudly and fearlessly towards the Olympic competition, which will surely be a big draw for cybercriminals,” said Shayimamba Conco at cyber security company Check Point Software Technologies.
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