Gaming-related attacks soar during lockdown

Kaspersky warns that cyber criminals are exploiting gaming’s growing popularity during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Since March, the number of users on the popular St

eam gaming platform and store increased dramatically, reaching a new record in terms of active users and concurrent users actively playing games by the end of that month. 

In April, the daily number of blocked attempts to direct Kaspersky users to malicious sites that exploit gamers increased by 54% when compared to January this year.  

And the number of blocked attempts to direct users to phishing pages for one of the most popular gaming platforms increased by 40% compared to February 2020.

Kaspersky’s data revealed that users are often lured by promises such as free versions of popular games, updates and extensions, or cheats. 

“However, if users click on these links, a wide variety of malicious programs can be downloaded, from password-stealing malware to ransomware and miners, software that secretly mines crypto-currency from the victim’s computer,” the company says.

Minecraft, one of the world’s most popular games, was most often used by criminals, with its name being employed in over 130 000 Web attacks. Also topping the list were Counter Strike: Global Offensive and The Witcher 3.

Now that many players are using the same machines that they use to enter corporate networks for gaming, extreme caution should be taken.

Kaspersky

In addition, statistics from Kaspersky’s Anti-Phishing System show that the number of blocked redirects to phishing pages that contained the word 'Steam”' increased by 40% in April when compared with February.

Maria Namestnikova, a security expert at Kaspersky, says many of these gaming-related attacks aren’t particularly sohisticated, and rely on users falling for phishing attacks or clicking on links.

However, now that many players are using the same machines that they use to enter corporate networks for gaming, extreme caution should be taken. Risky actions don’t only endanger personal data, they put corporate resources at risk, adds Yury Namestnikov another security expert at Kaspersky.

“When working from home, if possible, try to avoid mixing your personal computer with the one you use for accessing the corporate network,” he says.

To stay safe when gaming, Kaspersky recommends using strong passwords and two-factor authentication where possible to protect video-gaming accounts. In addition, it advises being wary of any cheats and pirated copies of video-games, and using a reliable security solution.