Metaverse is opening up new paradigms in social interaction beyond what we imagined possible. It is a mix of the virtual and real worlds, the augmented realities and a borderless of endless interactions. As we continue to bask in the euphoria of this newly found technology, we mustn’t lose sight of the threat that might befall us.
The Darkverse
Darkverse is a “space for underground marketplaces, criminal communications, and illegal activities”, which mimics clandestine physical meetings over the metaverse environment. Metaverse is the extremes of Metaverse.
Security researchers predict that a kind of darknet structure similar to today’s internet could emerge in the Metaverse. Metaverse beyond email addresses and passwords will be storing user behaviours too.
Unimaginable cyber attacks and fraud could even take place in protected rooms that can only be reached from a specific physical location and via valid authentication tokens. This would make their underground marketplaces inaccessible to law enforcement agencies.
Metaverse technology with its huge data mine should ensure the protection of user information, privacy and personal data security. Achieving this will require new security strategies because the darkverse will become the go-to place for conducting illegal/criminal activities. After all, it will be difficult to trace, monitor, and infiltrate by law enforcement. It may be years before the police catch up.
Characteristics of The Darkverse
The darkverse hence found in the Metaverse shares similitudes with the Metaverse. Some of the facets of the Metaverse include:
Identity: Users can participate in a virtual digital world as a digital identity.
Diversification: It provides a variety of world scenarios for players to choose from.
Gamified social: Users can Interact seamlessly in the games and have free social interaction.
Immersion: All immersive social experiences in the virtual space.
Time conformity: Boundless and borderless. It can be accessed anytime, anywhere.
Creator System: Users are not restricted in the creation of digital content
Economic system: Unified digital currency system, play and earn, digital financing.
Civilization: Users in the Metaverse can work together to create a virtual and advanced civilization.
Darkverse A Cyber Threat
Cyber attackers can exploit the unhindered darkverse platform to defraud gullible victims. They target non-fungible tokens (NFTs), an increasingly popular means of defining property in the metaverse, for phishing, ransomware, fraud, and other attacks.
Criminals can use the metaverse to launder money using overpriced virtual real estate and NFTs. State actors can also form manipulative narratives to reach vulnerable and receptive groups. Social engineering, propaganda, and fake news have profound implications in a cyber-physical world.
Privacy as we know it no longer exists there but is redefined. Operators of metaverse-like rooms have unprecedented insight into the actions of the users.
The consequences of the Darkverse are not unprecedented. Privacy, information and cyber attacks are common within the digital space, however, a solution is on the way to handle the peculiarity of that of the darkverse. We therefore can’t afford to be less careful as we make the most of the Metaverse.