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The security of the metaverse utopia?
A couple of decades ago, the Internet was a concept that only a few could use, but today it is an integral part of our lives. The same thing is happening with newer trends, and what is now the subject of discussion in narrow circles of specialists may soon become our new reality
The concept of the metaverse. What is everyone talking about?
Each company sees the image of the virtual universe in its own way, so the "metaverse" has received several definitions that contradict each other or have little to do with reality.
For example, Mark Zuckerberg defined the metaverse as "the embodied Internet in which you are, instead of looking at it from the outside." According to Microsoft, the metaverse is "a permanent digital world populated by digital doubles of people, places and things."
The concept was originally introduced by Neil Stevenson in the 1992 science fiction novel "Avalanche" (Eng. Snow Crash). According to Stevenson, the metaverse is the next stage in the development of the Internet, a common digital world combining physical, augmented and virtual reality.
Nevertheless, many analysts and heads of large corporations agree on one thing: the metaverse is not a single program, but an extensive network of information. In other words, the metaverse is the new chapter of the Internet.
The first steps. Who is already building a metaverse?
The term "metaverse" is actively used in the gaming industry in the context of Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft and AR/VR technologies.
Apple and Epic are competing to create the first metaverse with a billion users. Facebook changed its name to "Meta" and announced its aspiration in the development of the metaverse. Other tech giants such as Google, Huawei, Tencent, ByteDance, HTC and Nvidia have also started research in this area and are actively deploying the metaverse in the context of infrastructure, games, content and social platforms.
An unspoken race has started in China since last year – companies create trademarks whose name has references to the word "metaverse". In total, 408 companies associated with Meta Universe were registered in the country.
The states existing in the physical world also tend to get into the meta-space. Thus, Barbados plans to become the first country to open an embassy in the Decentraland metaverse.
Already today, states with their own currency are appearing in the metaverses, companies are buying virtual land for hundreds of thousands of dollars, fashion houses are planning to open stores, and users are getting the opportunity to get acquainted and travel around the world.
Security in the metaverse
Despite the fact that the concept of the metaverse remains vague, its popularity is growing rapidly. In this regard, there were concerns about the safety of the new metamir. Cyberattacks, old and new, will inevitably find their way into the metaverse, which underscores the need to take care of the security of immersive worlds from the very beginning.
Laws and regulations in the new digital World
Many express concern about potential risks in an environment where the boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds continue to blur.
The recent case of a user who was digitally harassed prompted Meta to introduce a system of "personal boundaries". However, how to protect a digital avatar from unwanted and hostile actions by other users remains an ethical issue for the time being.
At the moment, there are no generally accepted laws and accompanying punishments in the metaverse.
Human identity and privacy protection
Another issue of interest to security experts is user privacy. We have already witnessed a lot of hacking and falsification of various gaming accounts, so it's fair to assume that a new universe with a huge number of entertainment services will face a similar problem.
One of the key elements in need of protection is the digital identification of each user. After all, your profile will contain much more personal information than a Google or Facebook account. The metaverse will embody the whole digital life, with a bank account and other confidential data, where protection from theft will be the decisive factor.
Equally important will be the guarantee that users will not be able to fake someone else's identity. The identity verification mechanism is important. However, it is still unclear how spoofing in the metaverse can be prevented.
