Money Laundering Risks through iGaming Transactions
Alexandru Petrescu
Senior Vice President,
Big Cyber Defense
BIG Cyber – The Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) for the Gaming industry.
iGamimg and Video-game-related crime is almost as old as the digital industry itself. Recent trends prove just how attractive the gaming community has become for cybercriminals and how lucrative the game-hacking business is becoming, which underlines the importance for developers, manufacturers and gamers alike to take game security more seriously.
Payments, online gaming and cybercrime are more connected than we might think. We explore how online games are becoming the new hunting ground for cybercriminals looking to earn and learn.
There are two lines of thought with criminals and online video games. One is that these connected platforms offer easier opportunities to attack, compromise and steal data. The other, a relatively new theory, is that these games, accessible through the internet, are themselves becoming a breeding ground for cybercrime.
Cybercriminals essentially see online games as a way of making money – either by stealing and selling data, or convincing the user to hand over their bank details. But while trojans, viruses and, increasingly, ransomware are used to target and steal money from individual gamers, a far bigger problem for the authorities is arguably money laundering.
Cybercriminals are increasingly using online gaming and micro-payments to launder money. With what seems like new technological advances developing daily, cybercrimes are becoming more and more common, with little to no policing in place sometimes. There are many issues faced when it comes to these new methods to commit cybercrime. With the influx of new technology, these issues will create new and possibly more efficient means to launder money.