{"id":107346,"date":"2022-09-06T08:18:10","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T08:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kasperskycontenthub.com\/securelist\/?p=107346"},"modified":"2022-11-22T11:31:38","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T11:31:38","slug":"gaming-related-cyberthreats-2021-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/securelist.com\/gaming-related-cyberthreats-2021-2022\/107346\/","title":{"rendered":"Good game, well played: an overview of gaming-related cyberthreats in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

The gaming industry went into full gear during the pandemic, as many people took up online gaming as their new hobby to escape the socially-distanced reality. Since then, the industry has never stopped growing. According to the analytical agency Newzoo, in 2022, the global gaming market will exceed $ 200 billion<\/a>, with 3 billion players globally<\/a>. Such an engaged, solvent and eager-to-win audience becomes a tidbit for cybercriminals, who always find ways to fool their victims. One of the most outstanding examples involves $2 million’s worth of CS:GO skins stolen from a user’s account<\/a>, which means that losses can get truly grave. Besides stealing personal credentials and funds, hackers can affect the performance of gaming computers, infecting these with unsolicited miner files.<\/p>\n

In this report, we provide the latest statistics on cyberthreats to gamers, as well as detailed information on the most widespread and dangerous types of malware that players must be aware of.<\/p>\n

Methodology<\/h2>\n

To assess the current landscape of gaming risks, we observed the most widespread PC game-related threats and statistics on miner attacks, threats masquerading as game cheats, stealers, and analyzed several most active malware families, giving them detailed in-depth characteristics. For these purposes, we analyzed threat statistics from Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), a system for processing anonymized cyberthreat-related data shared voluntarily by Kaspersky users, for the period between January 2021 and June 2022.<\/p>\n

To limit the research scope, we analyzed several lists of most popular games and based on this, created a list of TOP 28 games and game series available for download or about to be released on the streaming platforms Origin and Steam, as well as platform-independent titles. To make the overview more in-depth, we included both mobile and PC games. Thus, we analyzed threats related to the following titles:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Minecraft<\/li>\n
  2. Roblox<\/li>\n
  3. Need for Speed<\/li>\n
  4. Grand Theft Auto<\/li>\n
  5. Call of Duty<\/li>\n
  6. FIFA<\/li>\n
  7. The Sims<\/li>\n
  8. Far Cry<\/li>\n
  9. CS:GO<\/li>\n
  10. PUBG<\/li>\n
  11. Valorant<\/li>\n
  12. Resident Evil<\/li>\n
  13. Command & Conquer<\/li>\n
  14. Hitman<\/li>\n
  15. Total War<\/li>\n
  16. Cyberpunk 2077<\/li>\n
  17. Elden Ring<\/li>\n
  18. Final Fantasy<\/li>\n
  19. Halo<\/li>\n
  20. Legend of Zelda<\/li>\n
  21. League of Legends<\/li>\n
  22. Dota 2<\/li>\n
  23. Apex Legends<\/li>\n
  24. World of Warcraft<\/li>\n
  25. Gears of War<\/li>\n
  26. Tomb Raider<\/li>\n
  27. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.<\/li>\n
  28. Warhammer<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We used the titles of the games as keywords and ran these against our KSN telemetry to determine the prevalence of malicious files and unwanted software related to these games, as well as the number of users attacked by these files. Also, we tracked the number of fake cheat programs for the popular games listed above, and an amount of miners that dramatically affect the performance of gamers’ computers.<\/p>\n

    Additionally, we looked at the phishing activity around gaming, specifically that related to cybersports tournaments, bookmakers, gaming marketplaces, and gaming platforms, and found numerous examples of scams that target gamers and esports fans.<\/p>\n

    Key findings<\/h2>\n