The mobile gaming industry is expected to surpass $100 billion in revenue by 2023 unless the hacking and cheating epidemic begins to turn users away from the platform at scale. Reducing mobile gaming cyber-risk before it’s too late With such tools on hand, adversaries can automate the process of searching for sensitive code or data to alter. Readily available memory editors also simplify the process for hacking mobile gaming apps. They can then modify the application code or data and repackage the app for distribution on any of the thousands of cracking sites. In most situations, bad actors simply need to analyze an application and find code or data to patch. Unfortunately, modifying app packages isn’t a particularly difficult task for hackers and cheaters to pull off, as many tools exist to make this process quite trivial. Bypassing in-app billing to fast-track game progress.Replacing the original payment and ad settings.Redistributing apps to ship malware and/or steal information.The mobile gaming threat landscape is vast, with five key threats posing a risk to game publishers and developers. For a $174 billion dollar industry, the loss of players disgruntled by cheaters with an unfair advantage can be detrimental. Gamers are motivated by the possibility of winning, and when cheaters disrupt that - such as with the major cheats on Call of Duty Mobile or Fortnite - they can become disengaged. When a game is targeted by hackers and cheaters, the entire integrity of the game is put at risk.

Now mobile gaming cheats are increasingly being sold on cheat forums and encrypted websites, and earlier this year police busted what has been called the world’s largest video game cheat operation - seizing the assets of an operation called “Chicken Drumstick,” which sold cheats to popular games like Call of Duty Mobile. Thus, hackers and cheaters have slowly begun to reprioritize their targets, moving toward mobile gaming. While vulnerabilities remain high, hackers and cheaters have taken notice of the industry’s evolving security mindset, facilitated in large part by players sick and tired of disruption to their gaming experience. Adversaries make the shift to mobile gaming Just last month, Sony announced that it was making Denuvo’s anti-cheat API available to all game publishers and developers via the PlayStation 5 Tools and Middleware program.

Fortunately, the tech giants behind several of the top game consoles are beginning to understand the threat, taking actions to help game publishers and developers mitigate risk.

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