Hackers target children through video games

The gaming industry is sitting on a hotbed of coveted data – vast amounts of instances of personally identifiable information (PII) and credit card information of gamers worldwide. The fraudulent behaviour has been on the rise, with fake accounts claiming to be members of groups they were not. It’s the responsibility of the industry to protect this information and ensure that their platforms are a safe environment for gamers.

Fake accounts and bot problems are so widespread…. with this, children are exposed more towards going online than ever before, with this they’ve become increasingly vulnerable to hackers. The main reason hackers and online fraudsters focus on youth is because children have easy access to the internet and smartphone apps and have only minimal knowledge of the risks.

Video games made up just 6.1% of global spending in the entertainment and media sector in 2017, but by 2026 they are projected to grab a 10.9% share as gaming becomes even more mainstream, the PwC report says.

China and the US dominated the market in 2021, accounting for about half of gaming and eSports revenues. But future growth could come from less wealthy countries with growing populations. The report predicts that the games market will expand fastest in Turkey, with average annual growth of 24.1% between 2021 and 2026. It will be followed by Pakistan, with expansion of 21.9%, and India at 18.3%.

One in three people around the world play video games, and a significant portion of the gamers are children. By 2025, the video game market is set to reach a value of $256.97 billion and is expected to reach $321 billion by 2026, a new PwC report says. Cybersecurity experts warn that threats lurk in cheat codes, microtransactions and messages from fellow players.

As children spend more time and money on their games, they amass collections of digital items that have great emotional value to them. It’s these digital collections that hackers are targeting. Hackers can translate the digital currency children have into monetary funds in their bank accounts.

The need of the hour is the gaming companies and the gaming industry need to take more responsibility when it comes to the effects it has on kids.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA