The security challenges of the “Metaverse”
Shiya Liu · Security and Safety · 2023
The proliferation of mobile internet has led to a diminishing internet traffic dividend and a period of relative stagnation.The internet industry has experienced a lack of innovation in content delivery, communication, and engagement, resulting in limited growth.Due to anti-monopoly sentiment, regulations have become more stringent, affecting mobile internet markets.Early internet giants secured a monopolistic position, leading to issues such as inequitable pricing, illicit data use, and exclusionary practices that negatively impact market efficiency and global internet development.As growth opportunities become scarce, internet companies are forced to pursue disruptive innovation to identify new expansion opportunities."Metaverse" represents a potential solution, as companies recognize that the integration of multiple technologies can bring about a new era of innovation."Metaverses" combine real and virtual internet ecosystems with autonomous transactions and well-defined property rights.VR/AR, AI, and blockchain technology create immersive, three-dimensional virtual environments, enabling users to contribute content and modify their surroundings, and creating a closely integrated social system that bridges the real and virtual worlds."Metaverse" is a Cyber-Physical System combining Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud Computing, and other innovative technologies.Both hardware and software vulnerabilities make these systems vulnerable to physical and logical failures.Traditional functional security and human-generated cyberattacks at physical and technical levels are not immune to "Metaverse" security challenges.To establish a robust Cyber-Physical System of this magnitude, several critical elements are necessary.Firstly, a user-friendly creation platform is required to enable users to generate content and manipulate the environment, fostering an ecosystem of creators.Secondly, an extensive, efficient algorithmic infrastructure is crucial for standardizing data storage, labeling, training, inference, and deployment processes while supporting the "Metaverse's" massive computational demands from inception to operation.This infrastructure will expedite algorithm innovation, enhance production efficiency, and fulfill scenario digitization requirements.Lastly, maintaining a controlled hardware and software environment and implementing an effective management system are essential for ensuring the "Metaverse's" healthy and orderly development.This paper aims to analyze and categorize the security challenges faced by the "Metaverse" across physical, technical, and endogenous levels, and explore potential resolutions collectively.The "Metaverse" represents an extensive Cyber-Physical System encompassing diverse hardware and software components.It confronts a myriad of security challenges spanning hardware, software, systems, platforms, data, algorithms, and communication.Hardware The immense computational infrastructure necessitates a broad array of CPUs, GPUs, memory, and sensors, rendering autonomous chip technology control crucial.Chip production involves design, manufacturing, packaging, and testing, potentially introducing security issues such as design flaws, vulnerabilities, or hardware Trojan horse implantation.Globalization exacerbates these risks by increasing chip design and manufacturing vulnerability.