Gaming and Cybersecurity - How AI is Offering Smarter Protection for Players

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is literally everywhere. Today, it has become nearly impossible to find an industry where AI is not being used, or where its application is planned for the future. Gaming, among other industries, has entirely embraced the use of AI in its realm. We have all witnessed that this integration has opened up new opportunities and paths for the gaming industry.

But how is AI being used in gaming, one might ask? Well, first and foremost AI has transformed gaming when it comes to graphics as it is able to generate way more images in seconds than humans ever could. Then, it has played a huge role in creating a personalized experience for all players and this has contributed to higher player satisfaction. Last but not least important, AI has advanced the gameplay in many ways that were not seen before.

One big issue that is usually presented in gaming sites and apps is cybersecurity. Cybersecurity, in simple words, is the protection of all data from unauthorized use and this applies to all industries out there, gaming included. Apart from all the other benefits it offers, AI helps in making sure cybersecurity of games and players is at top levels at all times under any circumstances. This article will discuss exactly that while uncovering ways on how AI is contributing to enhance cybersecurity in gaming.

The growing need for cybersecurity in gaming

The gaming industry is constantly evolving. In this day and age, it has become clear that this is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and of course tech advancements are part of this success. This immaculate growth has also brought malicious attention to the industry and as a result, it is subject to many cyberattacks at all times. Thus, cybersecurity is a huge deal in gaming and strategies are developed constantly, which would help solve this issue.

To explain it in gaming terms, let’s take some of the latest sci-fi video games as an example. Recent sci-fi games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Watch Dogs: Legion, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided all have one thing in common: that is, to fight evilness in a futuristic world. This mission that all of these games have in common resonates with the role of AI and other additions to secure games and gaming infrastructure from cyberattacks. The villain here is the cyberattacks which are unfortunately expected to grow in the future, but heroes such as AI and other emerging technologies are definitely here to save the day.

Let’s have a look at the most common cybersecurity threats in gaming:

1. Account Takeovers

This is arguably the most common cyber-attack that exists to this day in the gaming industry. As the name suggests, the hackers usually takeover players’ accounts and misuse the information within those accounts. Most commonly, they use the banking details that might be connected to the account to make fraudulent transactions of their own.

2. DDoS Attacks

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks come second on the list, and they are also just as common as account takeovers. These cyberattacks target the gaming system by overloading it to a great extent, which then results in the game either crashing or becoming completely unresponsive. It has been noticed that such an attack usually happens during online gaming tournaments to disturb the fairness of the game.

3. Malware and Ransomware

Malware and ransomware are malicious types of software that can be found anywhere only. Unfortunately, many people fall victim to this software as they are usually presented to be something else and people download them onto their devices. Such an occurrence happens in gaming as well, primarily through masked mods, cheats or game assets which have the ability to compromise one’s device as soon as it is downloaded.

As previously stated, cybersecurity is a big topic for gaming and seeing how cyber-attacks are constantly growing, gaming companies have turned to AI to help them secure their platforms but also protect their user base. In the following paragraphs, we will be discussing how AI is helping those gaming companies who face cyber threats to overcome them in the best way possible but also prevent them to the maximum extent possible.

How AI is enhancing cybersecurity in gaming

Integrating AI in cybersecurity has its own benefits and challenges. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the benefits far outweigh any drawbacks that come with the incorporation of AI in gaming cybersecurity and this technology is expected to be part of a large number of gaming systems in the near future. That being said, both AI and ML (machine learning) are revolutionizing the security systems in all industries, gaming included.

One of the greatest benefits that AI brings to the table when it comes to gaming cybersecurity is the real time detection and response. In short, AI is able to detect any cyber threat that might enter the system as soon as it enters it and is also able to react towards it in the most effective way so that it doesn’t cause a lot of issues. AI can be constructed in a way that any suspicious activity in the gaming system will be reported and flagged and as such, can be treated immediately.

Another effective benefit of AI in cybersecurity is the way it treats cheating in games. Cheating is one of the key issues when it comes to online gaming competitions since the gaming system itself cannot take care of all activities that different participants might be engaging with. For instance, some cheaters in those online gaming tournaments use particular software which is unauthorized such as aim-bots and as a result, might even help them win the game. This is where AI comes into play as it is able to analyze those behaviors and by identifying such in-game data, AI fights cheating in gaming and ensures fair play for everyone.

Fraud transactions are also an important matter when it comes to gaming. More often than not, players connect some type of banking system to their account when they want to purchase something within the game. This is then the target of many attackers out there who make fraud transactions once they have access to this sensitive data. While this is a persistent problem in gaming systems, AI is able to prevent it as its algorithms can be trained to detect and recognize certain patterns. Once this happens, AI halts the transaction from going through and as a result protects the player from fraud transactions.