HOW DATA CENTRES CAN SAVE GAMING STUDIOS
The cybersecurity issues for gaming companies and how data centres can protect them
Jamieson Lee Hill, March 3rd, 2023
Cybersecurity for gaming studios is increasingly a major issue as criminals become more sophisticated as technology advances. In this article we explore some of the cybersecurity issues gaming studios have had worldwide and how data centres like IP House offer solid protection to future proof their systems and data. A gaming studio that doesn’t take cybersecurity seriously is unlikely to last long in the industry…
The Increase in Cybersecurity Issues For Gaming
Cybersecurity companies have been warning the gaming industry of a significant increase in cyber attacks since the early days of the pandemic. As games expand with the number of players the risk of cybercrime correspondingly increases. Director of Security Technology at Akami Technologies Tony Lauro states,
“When you add more users or devices or applications to a user pool, you’re creating a larger attack surface…In general, that is what is driving this massive increase over time.”
Source:
New York Times, Oct 13th, 2022
The Akamai Report 2022
Akamai published a report in August 2022 which showed that web application attacks, which target software such as mobile video games, had increased by 167% from May 2021 to April 2022. The report also revealed that gaming was the industry with the highest number of DDos attacks (distributed denial of service), amounting to 36% of all worldwide DDos traffic. Other significant information was that,
“As of April 2022, web application and API attacks represented the largest category of attacks overall, and they have increased in volume. Since January 2021, the top-three web application attack vectors targeting gaming were, in order, LFI at 38%, SQLi at 34%, and XSS at 24%.”
(Source:
Securitymagazine.com, Aug 4th , 2022
Gaming Revenue Attracts Cybercrime
The lucrative nature of the gaming industry is one of the main reasons the gaming industry is targeted by cybercriminals with revenues 5 times bigger than the global movie industry,
“ Today, gaming is the largest category in the entertainment industry, with revenues that far exceed those of both the film and music industries. This year, the gaming industry is expected to be worth more than $170 billion in global revenues, five times greater than global movie box office revenues.”
Source:
Gameranx.com, Dec 2022.
The Range of Cyberattacks on Gaming
Gaming studios experience a wide variety of different cyber attacks. Companies can lose large amounts of data, video games may be offline for a time and players may lose money & personal data, as well as having game disruption.
Cybersecurity companies have highlighted that microtransaction fraud has been more prevalent in gaming. In fact, scammers sometimes target small purchases because the cumulative total from thousands of gamers can be profitable. Furthermore, small fake
in-game purchases such as a £1 scam are less likely to be followed up by gamers and gaming studios.
Notable Cyber Attacks on Gaming Studios
A number of well-known gaming studios have been attacked over recent years with cybercriminals stealing company and gamer data, important game code stolen, leaked or sold, and games being forced offline. Some attacks involved hackers demanding money to return stolen data, code or put the game back online. Here are some main examples:
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts are famous for classics such as FIFA, the Sims, Need for Speed, Mass Effect, Plants Vs Zombies, Battlefield, Titanfall and many more. June 2021 saw a hack with game code being stolen from EA. Subsequently, the snatched code was given a starting bid of $500,000 in an auction by cybercriminals.
The GTA 6, Rockstar Games Hack
Possibly the biggest shock of 2022 was the GTA 6 security breach where a hacker illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from its data systems. Next, the hacker released developmental footage of the unreleased GTA 6 and also claimed to be the culprit behind the cyberattack on Uber.
Known as the ‘teapottubehacker’, the individual gained access via a Slack Channel for Rockstar Games staff and then claimed to have 90 videos about GTA 6. In addition, the hacker wanted to negotiate a deal to stop further hacks.
Later a coordinated effort between Rockstar Games and the FBI led to a notorious hacking gang called the Lapsus$ Group being arrested. Shortly afterwards, 7 people were arrested in the UK and London police charged a teenager known as Michael.
Bandai Namco
July 2022 saw multi-billion dollar brand Bandai Namco, creator of Tekken and Elden Ring, announce that it had been hacked. The big name brand was hacked by ALPHV Ransomware group who claimed to have ransomed the gaming company. However, Bandai Namco said the cyberattack on their internal systems was shut down to stop any further damage,
“ …we confirmed the unauthorized access, we have taken measures such as blocking access to the servers to prevent the damage from spreading.”
Source:
PC Gamer.com, July 2022
Axie Infinity - The Biggest Ever Crypto Gaming Hack
This was the biggest ever crypto gaming hack with the blockchain game Axie Infinity having $625 million dollars in crypto stolen. Their decentralized finance (DeFi) platform initially lost that amount before the hacker returned most of it. The hacker took USD Coin stablecoins and Wrapped Ethereum from the Axie’s Ronin blockchain. They exploited vulnerabilities in so-called ‘bridges’ which let users trade crypto between blockchains.
Gaming Companies ‘Lax On Security’ Set To Fail
With a market flooded with choice, if players are hacked or experience disruption to their game, they are likely to switch to another game at the loss of the gaming studio. Chief CX Officer For Arise Gaming, Jonathan Shroyer, affirms that,
“...if gaming companies are lax in security, their games will not succeed. Players of games depend on trust, credibility, and predictability when leveraging a brand's game…
If they find out there was a hack, or fraud, or other security issues, you will see a dramatic drop in gameplay and spend."
Source: Jonathan Shroyer,
Darkreading.com, Nov 25, 2022
The Solutions Available For Gaming Studios
Gaming industry expert Shroyer believes that the industry is now in a stronger position due to ‘technical measures available to developers.’ Gaming companies can use cutting edge software updates for unique online accounts that gamers must download and,
“...new tech and security placed in gaming data centers that make hacking more difficult, and the ability to turn off access via games online if bad behaviors are noticed.”
Source:
Darkreading.com, 25th Nov, 2022
IP House and Cyber Security For Gaming Studios
Data centres have a key role to play in supporting gaming studios worldwide to strengthen their security. As Shroyer highlighted, tech and security placed in data centres mean that gaming studios have peace of mind knowing their data and software are safe.
Clearly, gaming studios also need to keep educating gamers about the dangers of phishing, malware, and so forth, but the role data centres play is instrumental in future proofing security for gaming studios. IP House offers the following robust cyber security advantages for gaming companies:
- A Secure Network - to transmit data securely between their servers and end-user devices.
- A Secure Infrastructure - servers, storage, and other critical components.
- Full Compliance – ISO Certified Data Centre.
- Redundancy - Provide high availability and redundancy, ensuring systems and data are always available even in the event of a failure or outage.
To echo Shroyer’s warning, a gaming studio with poor cybersecurity will find that their ‘games will not succeed.’ To find out more about how IP House can save your gaming studio from cyberattacks, fill out the form below today!
To find out more about how IP House Data Centre can support your gaming studio, fill out the contact form below.
Sources
1. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/13/technology/gamers-malware-minecraft-roblox.html
3. Rockstar Games confirms hack after 'Grand Theft Auto' leak | TechTa...
4. Uber and Rockstar Games hacks show employee messaging privacy needs work
5. Axie Infinity: 4 Urgent Lessons from the Largest Crypto Hack Ever
6. How data centres are supporting the gaming industry
7. For Gaming Companies, Cybersecurity Has Become a Major Value Proposition
8. https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/social-engineering
10. https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/98114-top-3-web-attack-vectors-in-the-gaming-industry
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