What are Privacy and Security issues related to Metaverse?

Metaverse has already started invading almost every sector with its features. This new technology has the power to capture more data than in the present. The concept of Metaverse gained more traction when the largest social media giant Facebook renamed its company name to “Meta”. It is a platform for connecting with the digital environment for opening and sharing products, services, solutions, entertainment, workspaces, and much more. But, the privacy and security issues are of major concern since the technology is still in its early stage.

Metaverse collects additional personal data which may lead to security breaches and data shared is not safe.  Here detecting and monitoring the attacks are much more complex than in the present condition. The interaction between the 3D virtual world and real world can be breached with more amount of sensitive data. Metaverse is mainly supported by XR (Extended Reality) and it has many security and privacy issues.

Let’s see some of the security and privacy issues in Metaverse.

1.Hardware Devices

For connecting to the Metaverse, hardware devices are required and these devices with an eyepiece will give a complete view of the virtual world. They even collect eye movements, head movements, facial reactions, and hand movements. These devices are also capable of collecting fingerprints and biometric identification which can lead to security issues.

2. NFTs

NFTs control asset ownership but do not offer proper storage for the assets. Ransomware or other criminal attacks could affect the assets data because of this. The user will still have control of NFT data files that have been encrypted by ransomware but if they refuse to pay the ransom then there is a high risk of losing access to their assets.  They have a lot of integrity issues.

3. Privacy

It will be a major concern. The Metaverse builders will have complete control over the meta spaces, and they will collect an enormous amount of user data to monetize. If the user hosts in the open-source Metaverse worlds, the Metaverse builders are still able to gather the profits from users’ data.

4. VR & AR Threats

VR headsets collect a huge amount of user-sensitive information which may lead to leaks of sensitive information and security attacks on users’ data. Sometimes even physical security issues will arise with AR overlay on real-world circumstances and could cause harm to the users.

5. Unauthorized Data Collection

The absence of legal documentation can lead to a collection of users’ identities which allows the hackers to steal easily. Marketing and advertising companies may collect a lot of users’ information through avatars. It may also lead to cause threats in e-commerce transactions and take advantage of the user’s money and digital assets.

How to prevent Privacy and Security issues?

There are some points that every enterprise should follow to safeguard the sensitive information of their users.

• Companies using AR/VR platforms or devices should be careful in monitoring the risks of hacker attacks, leaking of information, and other malicious attacks. Companies also need to prepare for those attacks and enable security features to tackle them.
• Strict data privacy and security regulations should be followed when collecting personal information when setting up virtual offices in the Metaverse. The users should also be aware of their personal information shared when signing the compliance.
• To defend their details from data breaches and malicious attacks, users must employ online security tools.

Synopsis

The users and organizations are a lot more concerned about privacy and security issues. Several threats to data privacy are on the horizon with the technological revolution of the Metaverse. The virtual world is still in its early stage and the security issues cannot be resolved with present technological developments.

Sapizon Technologies provides end-to-end strategies for building the secured Metaverse solution for businesses.

Visit Sapizon for more details on our solutions.