Writer: CHARLIE FLETCHER
The internet holds some incredible possibilities. But let’s face it, in some ways, it’s a downright scary place, with threats seemingly around every corner. Many people have become more savvy about the nature of these hazards and have found ways to balance their enjoyment of the online space with protective measures.
But what happens when the nature of the internet changes? Lately, we’ve seen the first steps toward the metaverse — a virtual space where users interact with one another and businesses through avatars.
This immersive experience could hold some great opportunities, but there are also a range of security concerns that go alongside them. Navigating these issues will be essential to embracing the metaverse in a safe and meaningful way.
Understanding the Threats
The metaverse is a genuinely fascinating concept. Fascinating, but also a bit concerning from a security perspective. This doesn’t necessarily mean people should navigate the metaverse in a constant state of paranoia. Rather, having a good understanding of the likely risks helps you make sensible and measured choices about how you engage with it.
For families and individual users, creating a safe metaverse experience requires an awareness of the potential privacy and security issues. You really must be mindful of identity theft, in which financial or personal information may be stolen directly from an improperly secured avatar. The space could also be rife for social engineering attacks, in which hackers manipulate users to provide access to sensitive data. It’s also possible that, for kids in particular, cyberbullying might be a security threat in this digitally intimate space.
Among the key protective steps in relation to these threats are:
- Staying educated on methods of metaverse cybercrime.
- Only using metaverse platforms with strong security.
- Maintaining parental controls.
For business owners in the metaverse, the threats may be more complex in nature. Certainly, you’re going to face similar issues to individuals, such as social engineering to gain access to company information.
This may be particularly challenging if criminals deep fake duplicate brand avatars to trick employees into divulging information. When you’re storing consumer and business data in a virtual space, there might also be potential for the direct introduction of ransomware and malware. This puts your metaverse accounts and your company’s wider networks at risk.
As a result, some of the protective steps in relation to these threats may include:
- Establishing avatar verification protocols so that staff and consumers can confirm the credibility of brand avatars.
- Providing regular staff training on new and rising metaverse threats.
- Siloing metaverse accounts from company networks.
Making Behavioral Adjustments
It’s easy to assume that the biggest metaverse risks are other people’s actions or weak protections on the platform. Yes, these things definitely contribute to security. However, some of the biggest hazards and the best protections come from users’ behavior.
Some of the behavior you should consider adopting include:
Build your digital literacy
Everybody is new to the metaverse at some point — that’s unavoidable. However, that doesn’t mean you have to wander around in a lost and vulnerable state. Having an ongoing commitment to good digital literacy is, in many ways, like having a knowledgeable guide to help you safely find your way around the metaverse.
As much as possible, get to know not just how aspects of the metaverse work on the surface, but also how it functions in the background. You don’t have to be an expert, but try to have a working knowledge. This empowers you to better spot when things seem to be amiss and avoid users that aren’t maintaining high security standards.
Place strong boundaries
Just as in the real world, having a good set of personal boundaries in the metaverse is essential for your well-being. Set consistent boundaries around what you’re willing to discuss and what personal information you’re comfortable divulging to new people or businesses you meet in the metaverse. You might even want to place time limits on how long you spend in the space to mitigate your exposure to potential dangers.
Recognizing the Potential of AI
The metaverse has begun to emerge at around the same time as more accessible artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Therefore, AI is likely to become a common part of this virtual space. This is something of a double-edged sword, so it’s worth being aware of the positive and negative potential of AI in the metaverse.
AI could certainly make users more secure, depending on how it’s used. On the one hand, there are AI-driven applications that are designed to combat security threats. Using machine learning (ML) algorithms, these tools can utilize real-time data about behavior on networks, detect patterns that are likely to be associated with cybercrime, and issue alerts to users and businesses accordingly.
AI tools also support strong, yet simple, identity confirmation measures, like passwordless authentication. In these ways, Ai could actually be a powerful protective tool in the metaverse.
On the other hand, the digital “bad guys” are enthusiastically exploring the potential of AI, too. Platforms are being designed to analyze large amounts of data to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in greater numbers of networks.
In the metaverse, this could be used to swiftly target less security-savvy users and businesses. Indeed, increasingly sophisticated chatbots and generative image tools can make convincing deepfakes. Therefore, while it’s fine to be enthusiastic about the potential for AI in this new space, this must be met with reasonable caution in your relationships with it.
Conclusion
If you’re planning on engaging with the metaverse, you need to take the security challenges seriously. Get to know the prevalent threats related to your intended usage and take steps to safeguard against them. Adopting safe behavior is also one of the primary ways to minimize your vulnerability. Be a bit cautious with your relationship to AI in the metaverse, too.
Embrace its potential to detect threats, while also being aware of how criminals use it. As with any online space, you’ll find you get the most out of the metaverse when you use it in a well-informed and responsible way.
[Feature Image Source: Pexels]
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