Cyber Security in the Metaverse

Challenges of futuristic business ecosystems

Most people are familiar with the term “metaverse” these days, especially since Facebook’s rebranding to Meta. The industry’s growth is impressive: at present, it is mainly the so-called early adopters who are using the metaverse, but as its popularity and acceptance grow, so will the numbers of users and thus potential commercial customers. The market research company Emergen Research forecasts an annual growth rate of 43.3% for the metaverse through 2030¹. However, the metaverse not only enables new business models and leisure opportunities, but it also enables new forms of cyber crime. Precisely because the development of the metaverse is still in its infancy and it is impossible to foresee all potential future threats at present, it is of paramount importance that companies consider the security of their digital representations from the outset.

What is the metaverse?

The metaverse is a digital interactive space in which users can interact with each other and enjoy leisure and consumer activities. A distinction is made between virtual reality and augmented reality. In augmented reality, the real world is enriched by a virtual layer but remains perceptible to the user. This is usually done using 3D glasses. In virtual reality, on the other hand, the user is completely immersed in a computer-created simulation of reality in which the real environment is no longer perceived.

This idea of virtual interaction between subjects is not new in itself and has long been a reality in computer games, in the form of numerous networked worlds. In the 2000s, the concept was broadened into an initiative to represent virtual worlds beyond the scope of computer games. For a long time, the user-created virtual world “Second Life” dominated the idea of what the virtual worlds of the future would look like. The metaverse picks up on this development and, based on established social media platforms and with today’s computing power, takes it to a new level. Even now, the idea seems quite futuristic. But the metaverse has already shown in recent years that it can be transformed into a profitable business field. Numerous companies are already using virtual representations in the metaverse, and the numbers are growing. At the same time, other or ancillary initiatives are emerging, such as the “Industrial Metaverse” project launched by NVIDIA and Siemens. But until these new virtual spaces mature into true B2B ecosystems, many challenges concerning data sovereignty and data security still need to be solved. In the following section, we will examine the metaverse from a consumer perspective.

Cyber security as a weakness in the metaverse

The biggest weakness of the metaverse, and the point most often criticized, is data protection. Users, as well as corporate agents, use so-called digital twins, virtual images of their real person, to appear in the metaverse. But how can you be sure that another person in the metaverse is really who they claim to be and actually works for the company in question? In so-called social engineering – a fraudulent activity similar to phishing – an attempt is made to gain a victim’s trust by pretending to be someone else and then obtain information from them that can either harm them personally (such as account data or other personal information) or help to attack their company.

The main gateway for hackers is the equipment needed to access the metaverse, i.e. the 3D glasses and IT system. However, communication from the user’s location to the metaverse can also be hacked if the security is inadequate.

Digital twins as a gateway for cyber crime in the metaverse

Of course, the rich data sets associated with digital twins are not only valuable for companies but also for criminals. By manipulating digital twins, they are able, for example, to spy on company secrets, encrypt data, blackmail companies, commit identity theft or use false identities to engage in criminal activities.

The fake digital twin is particularly dangerous in this context. Criminals use stolen data to create virtual representations of people (social engineering) or entire environments for criminal purposes. In this way, they can deceive their victims in an extremely targeted and almost undetectable manner. Such a deep-fake scenario could, for example, be the deceptive imitation of a company’s executive member in a virtual conference room in the metaverse, enticing the victim to disclose sensitive information.

In so-called data poisoning, the data of the underlying AI and machine learning systems are deliberately altered. This not only corrupts the insights companies gain from their simulations, but in a worst-case scenario can lead to fatal business decisions based on incorrect results. If, for example, demographic data or action profiles of the modelled target groups are falsified, companies run the risk of directing budget into ineffective channels in the assumption that they are acting on the basis of valid forecasts from their digital twins.

Even this short, and by no means exhaustive, list makes clear: digital twins must be secured just like all other IT infrastructure components. The security requirements at the interface to the metaverse must be carefully considered and planned from the outset. Security by design is imperative.

How to ensure cyber security in the metaverse?

The weaknesses of the metaverse are also its strengths. Artificial intelligence and machine learning enable the modelling of security risks and structures and can thus reveal vulnerabilities. This enables companies to take proactive action against attacks.

But the digital twins themselves can also make a significant contribution to the security structure. In many industries it is already established practice to simulate logistics operations, business processes etc. Using the same principle, digital twins can also be used to model security infrastructures. For example, digital twins are excellent for developing decision trees that can be used to determine the extent of cyber attacks and the optimal response to them. This allows security teams to test, monitor and analyze various attack scenarios in a secure virtual environment. The real-time data obtained in this process can even help detect threats before they occur and plan effective countermeasures.

Conclusion

The metaverse in its many uses and manifestations is still a young technology that may continue to experience rapid growth in the coming years. The possibilities are not yet fully assessable. However, high-profit opportunities are always accompanied by high criminal risk. The importance of a proactive security-by-design strategy cannot be overemphasized. This is the only way to create trust with the user while ensuring a consistently high level of security. These approaches form the basis for a virtual B2B ecosystem – a development already on the horizon. As soon as these challenges are overcome, manufacturing companies will need to seriously examine their interaction and integration capabilities in the metaverse.