By the end of March last year, both the number of active users and concurrent users were actively playing on Steam The number reached an absolute record (Steam is the most popular online gaming platform, community, and store.) The record was broken again in March 2021, when the number of users of the platform approached 27 million.
Last spring, Kaspersky researchers found that in a big way Increase antivirus software Number of sites discovered by the company that exploited the theme of the game under the guise of popular games and platforms: In April 2020, the daily number of blocked redirects increased by 54 percent compared to January 2020.
The increase in the number of web attacks exploiting the gaming theme continued even after the lockdown was eased in the spring, approaching 2.5 million in November 2020, an absolute record. Following a dip in early 2021, the number of cyberattacks began to rise again, reaching 1,125,010 in April 2021, a 34 percent increase from March of this year.
Like last year, the most popular game used as bait is now Minecraft, although later in 2021, Counter Strike: Global Offensive was consistently ahead of Minecraft in the role of the most popular game used as bait. In this regard, Dota also experienced a big jump in the summer of 2020. The most common threats hidden in malicious links exploiting the theme of the game were various Trojans (harmful files that allow cybercriminals to do anything from deleting and blocking data to shutting down the computer). The malware has been disguised as free versions, updates, and extensions for popular games and rogue software.
Cyber attackers are also showing an interest in the topic.
“The number of gamers around the world is unprecedentedly high – nearly 3 billion – and playing video games is a great way to relax during a pandemic. This, of course, means that cyber attackers continue to show interest in the topic, and as more and more people are playing on tools Their work, the company’s resources are also at risk,” said Arpad Toth, Kaspersky Hungarian Director.
About cyber attacks on video games a Security menu See the page for more information.
According to Kaspersky experts, this is how we can protect against attacks while playing:
- Use strong passwords and, if possible, two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect video player accounts.
- Beware of fraudulent software and pirated versions of video games, they are among the favorite bait for cybercriminals.
- Use a robust and reliable security solution that does not slow down your PC while gaming.
- It is safer to get games from official sites, it is worth waiting for promotions – there are often enough, so you do not have to sit on our laurels for long.
- Beware of phishing campaigns and unknown players. You should carefully check the website to which the link you received in the email will redirect you to, as well as the extension of the file you want to open.
- Try not to click on links to external sites in the game chat and carefully check the address of any source that asks for your username and password, the site may be fake.
