Digital technologies are breaking down physical and geographical boundaries at a mind boggling pace. One such digital technology that has lately created immense buzz is the Metaverse. In theory, this technology could transform our lives in a big way.
Before we dive into metaverse any further, let us try to grasp a basic concept of this technology. Imagine for a moment that you are a senior executive of a company, whose presence is required in a company event that is on an entirely different continent.
The traditional approach to participating in the above event is to grab an airline ticket, and fly all the way down to the meeting. However, another way is to wear the specialized gear of any metaverse environment, like Virtual Reality (VR) headsets, and participate virtually.
Metaverse comes with the promise of breaking down the few boundaries that exist between the real world, and the virtual or digital world. To deliver such immersive experiences, metaverse relies on technologies like VR and augmented reality (AR).
While metaverse is making progress by leaps and bounds, there are still some serious concerns about this technology. These concerns relate to the element of cyber security, as cyber bad actors are increasingly turning towards the metaverse as an attack vector.
Some of the major cyber security concerns, which have been raised due to the use of metaverse platforms include data exposure to cyber attacks, data breaches, and the exfiltration of valuable enterprise data.
While this is understandable for newly introduced and adopted technologies, the sheer pace at which both metaverse platform providers and users are embracing this technology is way too much for its cyber security aspect to catch up.
Both these entities related to Metaverse, namely the platform providers as well as the early adopters, want to jump on this “technology bandwagon”. However, it is really important to understand the high level of stakes that are involved.
Many recent forecasts have warned that the un-regulated and un-protected use of Metaverse can pose serious challenges for the cyber security, data security and regulatory compliance posture of the enterprises using it.
A recent study found that although Metaverse was previously inclined more towards the gaming industry, it is experiencing much higher adoption rates by enterprises. This is exactly the area where enterprises need to be careful and conservative.
Towards the end, the report strongly cautioned enterprises not to resort to the un-protected and un-regulated use of metaverse platforms; which do not meet industry leading standards for the privacy and security of valuable enterprise data.
