Metaverse and Space May Be Cybercriminals’ Playgrounds in 2023

According to the 10^th Annual Experian® Data Breach Industry Forecast, threat vectors continue to expand forcing organizations to reinforce cyber resiliency

As technology continues to evolve for business and personal use, cybercriminals are also leveraging innovation for attacks. Experian’s 10th annual Data Breach Industry Forecast includes six predictions for 2023 addressing the expanded landscapes that cybercriminals are expected to play in, such as the metaverse, and their favored modes of attack including using deepfakes.

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Additional frontiers are a focus for 2023

In addition to the metaverse, hackers will increasingly explore more frontiers including space and innovative technology like artificial intelligence come 2023. This year’s report outlines several predictions to help companies understand where cybercriminals will lurk and how they will attack. These predictions include:

• Wild, Wild West of the Metaverse: While embarking on a virtual life journey is an appealing concept to many, it has vulnerabilities. As the metaverse continues to gain momentum, phishing attempts, NFT-related scams and malware attacks have already begun, with potentially more looming in the year ahead. The use of AR and VR devices increases the impact of data breaches as these devices collect large amounts of personal information and user data. This may increase their potential to be hacked and lead to more sophisticated attacks.
• Houston, We Have a Problem: Thinking about the scale of damage that could result from space satellites being hacked is disconcerting, but it’s also a reality we must prepare for in 2023. The combination of a disjointed regulatory environment and more satellites in orbit than ever before opens the door for bad actors to exploit the satellites in orbit, or with a big enough satellite, even launch cyberattacks from space.
• Imitation That’s Not a Form of Flattery: While influencers of all types may chase exposure, this isn’t the kind they want. Use of deepfake technology by bad actors could be leveraged for more than just funny videos and elevated to create a new level of strategic mischief. Global leaders, business titans and influential industry experts around the world will need to stay vigilant of the misuse of their image and likeness as deepfake technology may be an increasingly popular tool in warfare and in cybercrime.

Resiliency is the key to winning long-term

Among Experian’s predictions is a long-term outlook that the amount of time to detect and defend against a security intrusion will probably not improve significantly over the next 10 years. Organizations still grapple to prevent data breaches with more than 1,200 breaches this year so farⁱ. Unfortunately, it still takes organizations a lengthy 212 days to identify a cyber intrusion and another 75 days to contain it, according to IBMⁱⁱ. Strategies to improve detection and containment need to be shored up.

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“In assessing the cyber landscape, we pinpointed a preparedness weakness that needs attention,” said Michael Bruemmer, vice president, Global Data Breach Resolution at Experian. “The reality is that cyberattacks can’t be prevented 100 percent of the time but organizations that can discover and thwart cyberattacks quickly will suffer less damage financially and reputationally. We believe there is a shift in mindset needed to focus on resiliency to complement the pursuit for absolute prevention.