Page 9 - Cybersecurity Career Guide for North Dakota

Keeping Gamers Going
Stuck at home during the pandemic, many of us turned to video games for entertainment. Hackers turned to video games for profit. The year 2020 saw a 340 percent increase over 2019 in web application video game attacks, the biggest increase for any in- dustry. In June 2021, hackers broke into the systems of Electronic Arts and stole 780 gigabytes' worth
of source code used in the company's games. The hackers boasted that they gained full access to FIFA 21 servers, as well as the source code and debugging tools for EA’s most popular games, such as Battle- field, FIFA, and Madden. Stolen source code could subsequently be sold and copied by other developers or used to create hacks for games. Overall, criminals seek any opportunity to exploit video game players who spend real money on virtual, in-game items
like skins, character enhancements, and additional levels. They look to steal player email addresses, passwords, login details, and geolocation informa- tion, which they can then sell on criminal markets. What a way to ruin the fun!
Shielding Our Social Sites
In another incidence of "social engineering" (see the Uber item, page 7), some Instagram users received a message last year claiming that a post of theirs was guilty of copyright infringement. They were further instructed to go
to a link in the message to resolve the issue, where
they were then asked to enter their Instagram login
information. Of course, the message was really from a
cybercrime gang. And users who followed the instruc-
tions ended up making their accounts fully accessible
to the hackers who promptly changed people’s passwords and usernames. Then, the hackers asked for ransom payments in ex- change for access to the account, in amounts as high as $40,000.
Six months later, hackers struck again, this time with a phishing attack. Victims received an email notification that their account was eligible for the coveted "blue badge", pending con- firmation of all their info at a "badge form" link. The scam worked to create urgency in targets’ minds, warning users the verification process would expire within 48 hours. Many willingly gave up their private information. Last year, Instagram rolled out a new security feature meant to help users secure compromised accounts and kick out hackers — yet the phishing attacks continue.
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM (3); COURTESY MADDEN START-ENGINEERING.COM 9