Gaming Industry Faces 94% Surge in DDoS Attacks

The gaming industry has faced a 94% increase in layer 7 distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks over the past year.

According to Akamai, the figures highlight the growing cybersecurity challenges in a sector with 2.58 billion players and a market valuation of $184.4b.

The analysis, covering January 2023 to June 2024, outlines security threats within the gaming community. Gamers, often more tech-savvy than the average consumer, can pose insider threats capable of significant disruption. Disgruntled individuals can create bots to target streamers or exploit in-game chat features to distribute harmful content.

Financially, Akamai explained, the gaming industry’s high revenues and extensive player base make it a prime target for cyber-threats. The rise of subscription services, essential for accessing several new games, brings new vulnerabilities. Increased accounts and transactions offer more opportunities for credential theft and phishing scams.

The report also noted a substantial increase in the layer 7 DDoS attacks, with June and August 2023 each experiencing over 25 billion attacks. The Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, generating $85.8b in revenue, reported the highest number of attacks, totaling 186 billion over 18 months.

Bot activity also saw a significant rise, with January 2024 alone witnessing a record 147 billion bot requests – a 391% increase from the previous year. Key events like the Steam Summer Sale were particularly prone to these spikes, indicating periods when gamers are most vulnerable.

Web application firewall (WAF) attacks grew 94% in the period. Meanwhile, SQL injection (SQLi) attacks emerged as the most common traditional web threat, with over 700 million incidents reported.

Regionally, North America experienced the highest number of web attacks, significantly outpacing EMEA and APJ.

As the gaming industry continues to grow, its influence and the technological skills it fosters are evident. However, these strengths also make it a target for cyber-threats, requiring robust and adaptive security measures to protect both players and developers.

Read more on these threats: AI, Gaming, FinTech Named Major Cybersecurity Threats For Kids