Cheating, hacking and piracy are challenges for 81% of esports stakeholders, with both esports streamers and event organizers reporting the issues as moderate or major concerns.
Fraud challenges in esports
The situation of esports security was examined in the “Cheating, Hacking, Piracy, and Esports: Critical Steps Needed to Protect the Industry” report by Verimatrix and Omdia. Since their inception, esports competitions, whether online or live, have grown in popularity. In 2021, esports will generate $1.6 billion in income.
Along with the increase in money, security difficulties have emerged, with the business being affected by fraud issues like cheating and esports piracy. 55% of esports stakeholders say that their organisation is moderately or seriously concerned about piracy.
Esports cybersecurity threats
The analysis revealed new dangers to the esports sector. Esports streamers and event planners believe that non-fungible tokens (NFT) and blockchain-based games are potential cyberattack vectors in addition to fraud. Eighty-one per cent of survey participants said they intended to beef up their security measures in the coming year, but the report outlined challenges to esports security.
The sector is challenged by a lack of cybersecurity awareness, with 50% of stakeholders not aware of anti-piracy technology. According to the report, over 40% of respondents don’t use security services, and 42% of respondents said they would be willing to spend less than $5,000 for security services.