According to Trend Micro, since it will be challenging to trace and control darkverse activity, illegal or criminal activity is likely to grow there.
The cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, which is American-Japanese, claimed in a recent analysis that the Metaverse had growing vulnerabilities that could manifest over the next three to five years.
According to Trend Micro, physical risks, augmented reality (AR) threats, social engineering, classic information technology attacks, financial fraud, privacy concerns, and NFT security issues are the biggest threats to the sector, mostly from a regulatory aspect.
Trend Micro wrote the following about NFTs specifically:
“NFT ownership is verified using blockchains so they are susceptible to blockchain hijacking attacks. NFTs that rely on smaller blockchains could be vulnerable to a Sybil attack. This is where the attacker gains control of more than 50% of the peer nodes that verify transactions and thus can manipulate NFT ownership verification. Finally, a metaverse space may not honor the ownership asserted in the NFT as there is no legal reason to do so.”
The company also thinks that the massive amount of e-commerce transactions in the Metaverse world may attract criminal organizations, saying: “In the metaverse, we will likely see more pump-and-dump schemes. Malicious actors will boost the value of digital assets through fake recommendations, endorsements, and investments; and then dump the assets.” In theory, the value of virtual land is heavily dependent on perception and may be subject to manipulation.
Finally, Trend Micro believes that the high expense of intercepting digital crimes and criminals at scale will make it difficult for law enforcement organizations to operate during the early years of the metaverse’s development. Additionally, since jurisdiction is challenging to establish, they will struggle. Additionally, because it takes time to develop metaverse knowledge, this category of crimes could initially go mostly unchecked. Company statement:
“If a user is defrauded or robbed, then getting help, filing complaints, or filing legal actions will be very difficult. The user will also be using decentralized digital currencies, which adds to the complexity of the situation.”
The report’s conclusion urges creating appropriate security models in advance of a significant influx of capital into the sector. The Metaverse is a possibility that, in the long run, may unlock “trillions of dollars,” according to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta.
