The Role of Cybersecurity in the Metaverse
Virtual worlds or metaverses will gather different types of user data, including personal information (age, gender, name), user behavior (choices/habits), and metadata from personal communication. Engaging in a virtual environment might expose users to continuous monitoring from commercial providers, as well as hacking from bad actors. Furthermore, virtual worlds could potentially create an environment of digital abuse, e.g., hate speech, disinformation, violence against women and people of color, or bullying. Providers must implement a strong security framework that encompasses a combination of technical and regulatory solutions to maximize the benefits of metaverse usage while overcoming privacy risks.
To help providers in this endeavor, this study analyzes the various security and privacy threats that exist in the metaverse today and potential countermeasures that enterprises could consider to thwart these threats.
Key Issues Addressed
This research service analyzes the security landscape in detail and aims to answer the following questions:
- What is the metaverse?
- What key assets constitute the metaverse ecosystem?
- What are the key concerns for end users in the metaverse and what are the commonly exploited threats?
- What security weak spots exist in the metaverse and how are they classified?
- How can the various metaverse-related security threats be mitigated?
- What are the existing metaverse-related standards?
- Who are the main participants in the metaverse security ecosystem?
- What growth opportunities exist for security stakeholders in the metaverse ecosystem?
Table of Contents
Companies Mentioned (Partial List)
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
- ActiveFence
- CertiK
- Cybellum (LG)
- Elliptic
- Quantstamp
