The risk of app modifications is mitigated by obfuscated code, which makes it difficult for game hackers to comprehend the core functioning of your gaming app.
Out of all the apps, you can find at least one gaming app on every smartphone. Online games and video games are great fun, but not threat-proof. There are many dangers that online gaming app face, including viruses, identity theft, and phishing attacks. Here are some security risks that every game developer must know-
Reverse Engineering & Malware
The widely used gaming app is more vulnerable than others to malware intrusion and reverse engineering attempts. Hackers may reverse-engineer your gaming software’s fundamental design, game assets, code, and data assets and repackage them for marketing as a clone. The reputation of your original game is harmed by these fraudulent gaming apps, which are frequently plagued with malware.
A gaming app named Minecraft which was released in 2011 on multiple platforms including PC, consoles, and smartphones has affected 228k users. As per a report given by Atlas VPN Minecraft most malware-infected game on the market with 228k users affected between July 2020 and July 2021, which is considered to be at the top of the most malware-infected games list in 2021. The most noticeable thing is that these problems were not related to official copies of Minecraft bought from reputable online or brick-and-mortar stores.
Minecraft’s popularity made the game developer make heavy modifications to the games, which opened the option for the game players to download new content that is created by the fans of the game. As mods are unofficial and primarily unregulated, they can be loaded with undesirable and outright dangerous software.
In-App Purchasing Flaws
As many mobile games depend on in-app purchases for revenue generation; gamers didn’t secure their games from purchasing system security flaws that let hackers access add-on items and gaming functionalities for free. The Pokémon Go game popularity made gamers adopt the Android version via unofficial channels, which helped hackers to successfully post malware-infected app versions in some file-sharing services. Smartphones with such infected malware are severe, and hackers can potentially copy and can use the phone to commit crimes such as in-app purchasing frauds, social media posts, or emails on behalf of the gamers.
Payments Gateways
Errors in your in-app purchase system costs the loss of million dollars of your business. An intrusion detection system on the perimeter in front of the game application backend setup can help in identifying the critical points in your payment system.
Code obfuscation techniques can also secure your gaming app as they make it difficult for hackers to access your system.
Following these suggestions will secure your payment system and will also give you enough time to solve a security breach. Since even obfuscated code is decodable by modern automated tools, it would be a better practice to use clean programming techniques and rely on proper application infrastructure.
App Security Monitoring
Installing a motion detection system in the infrastructure of your gaming app is beneficial since it warns you about potential threats. Real-time security analysis is still relatively new, but it allows you the ability to monitor attempted attacks on your gaming app and acquire knowledge about their source and frequency.
Undoubtedly, the server side of the system needs to be protected with security software and firewalls; customer-server communication should perform via SSL and other safer methods. Because access to all the server-side data happens through the customer side, the same protection implementation should be performed for the client side of the application too.
