Entertainment
Cyber Attack: Indian gamers are losing thousand of rupees due to cyber frauds
The online gaming industry is exploding with new participants as people rush in to play or watch their favourite games through their preferred gaming platform. This surge of gamers in the segment has not gone unnoticed by the threat actors present online, and a new report now warns that these miscreants are increasingly targeting gamers online, even duping them of their hard-earned money in the process.
The insights have been shared in a new report by cyber security major Norton. Titled Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report: Special Release Gaming & Cybercrime, the report mentions that every 3 in 4 gamers surveyed in India have experienced a cyberattack at one time or the other. Of these, a majority have experienced a considerable financial impact due to the cyberattack.
In numbers, this impact was calculated to an average of Rs 7,894 for every four out of five gamers who were victims of a cyber-attack. This means more than 80 per cent of targeted gamers suffered from such a loss on average. Other than the financial loss, many victims (about 35 per cent) complained of having malicious software on their gaming devices through a cyber-attack. Others (29 per cent) detected unauthorized access to their online gaming account.
Through such cyber-attacks, over 2 in 5 gamers have been tricked into compromising their personal security. In addition, 28 per cent were the victims of downloading malware onto a gaming device, while 26 per cent were tricked into sharing account information online. Notably, 1 in 5 gamers have been doxed, i.e., had personal information stolen and shared publicly online, without their consent.
Cheat attempts to blame
The findings come from a global study conducted by The Harris Poll that accounts for responses from adults aged 18+ across eight countries, including 703 Indian adults who play online games. Other than the risks faced by the gamer community, the survey also aimed to identify the online security attitudes and behaviours of gamers.
The findings hint that the gamers themselves are to be blamed for compromising the security of their gaming account or device. It highlights that gamers are willing to take actions that could compromise their security simply to give themselves a competitive edge within the game.
Every 2 in 5 Indian gamers (about 42 per cent) said that they are “at least somewhat likely” to hack into the account of a friend, family member, or romantic partner if they knew it would give them a competitive advantage. About 56 per cent of respondents confirmed that they might exploit a loophole or bug in a game to give themselves a competitive advantage.
At least every 2 in 5 respondents said they would even consider paying to take possession of another user’s gaming account. Around 46 per cent said they might install cheats to their gaming account or gaming device for winning, while 39 per cent said they could hack into the gaming account of a random player.
The report highlights the huge disregard for cyber safety among the growing gamer community. This, along with the fact that threat actors are more active in cyberspace than ever, makes a dangerous cocktail for the gamer community online and calls for urgent attention of the gamers towards safe practices online.
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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