What Does The Metaverse Mean For The Future Of "Hacking"?

[socialshit1]

I'm sure we've all been aware of the shifting increase in popularity and use of the relatively new virtual reality platform over the past couple years. With professional (but as of now primarily) recreational use, one can only predict what this technology means for the future. Especially now that Mark Zuckerberg has recently made a giant push to pave the way forward for a new era of the Internet (the Metaverse) centering around this technology, one may be concerned.

As the Internet became mainstream in the early 90s-early 2000s, what came with it was a sort of revolution for the hacking culture. Not much of the public had an understanding of the Internet as many do now, and as such much of the technology and services were insecure and vulnerable to attacks, which where then abused and are now case studies. As time went on these services adapted, and for the most part hacking methods had to be altered and new ones created, all the while an increasing dependency was placed on these services, to the point we are at now where a large number of people's daily lives are dependent on the Internet, and that statement can be interpreted in many different ways.

This is arguably the dawn of a new era, this being the start of the Metaverse. With that being said, what can be foreseen regarding the types of shifts in hacking approach that will occur due to this new platform? With the widespread integration of sensory experiences and technology at a degree arguably never seen before, what are some of the types of groundbreaking malicious activities (malware) that could target virtual reality technology, and what are some other, more intricate and creative methods of hacking that could be invented as a result of this metaverse?

[enmafia2]

I'm sure we've all been aware of the shifting increase in popularity and use of the relatively new virtual reality platform over the past couple years. With professional (but as of now primarily) recreational use, one can only predict what this technology means for the future. Especially now that Mark Zuckerberg has recently made a giant push to pave the way forward for a new era of the Internet (the Metaverse) centering around this technology, one may be concerned.

As the Internet became mainstream in the early 90s-early 2000s, what came with it was a sort of revolution for the hacking culture. Not much of the public had an understanding of the Internet as many do now, and as such much of the technology and services were insecure and vulnerable to attacks, which where then abused and are now case studies. As time went on these services adapted, and for the most part hacking methods had to be altered and new ones created, all the while an increasing dependency was placed on these services, to the point we are at now where a large number of people's daily lives are dependent on the Internet, and that statement can be interpreted in many different ways.

This is arguably the dawn of a new era, this being the start of the Metaverse. With that being said, what can be foreseen regarding the types of shifts in hacking approach that will occur due to this new platform? With the widespread integration of sensory experiences and technology at a degree arguably never seen before, what are some of the types of groundbreaking malicious activities (malware) that could target virtual reality technology, and what are some other, more intricate and creative methods of hacking that could be invented as a result of this metaverse?

Yes, I have been thinking about this lately. The possibilities are endless, and most likely this will be a reality in a matter of a couple of years. My hope is that the technology stays in a beta (or not for business) for a while. That it stays for gaming or not widely used as the metaverse proposes.
But I know that this will not be the case, as soon as it is possible there will be people investing in taking profit of it.

For now, there is nothing we can actually do. And possibly little that we will be able to do later on. Giants will keep pushing no matter the damage as long as it gives them money. Let's see how this ends up.

[parzival]

That's quite hilarious that my handle and avatar here are referencing to "Ready player one".

I hope this technology will stay limited to some kind of activities, even if I feel that this will go in the opposite way, as enmafia2 already said.

Anyway, the attack surface is getting bigger and bigger and the limit, again, is only our creativity.

Just some ideas I got on my mind

Social engineering in metaverse
This is going to be way easier imho. Today, while people are getting suspicious against emails & co, they still be very vulnerable to "real-life" SE. I think that once we can engage them via the metaverses with a humanoid or whatever avatar they appreciate more, they will feel safer, so they'll fall with little effort by our part.

Follow the money
Inside the metaverses, users are able to make transactions (buy, sell, loan, etc). For what I've seen till now, it seems the big part of this transactions will be done by using some blockchain technology. So, this will let us enlarge our attack tree.

Malicious code
I still don't know how the development is handled in these metaverses, but if we can't code directly on it, we can code some third-parties or parallel software that will be used inside these worlds.

Honestly, once we'll be able to understand the metaverse structure, we'll be able to adapt old hacking skills and create new ones. So, just to repeat my self:
Our creativity is the only limit.

Stay free, stay safe.