Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, has released a new report, Leaked Today, Exploited for Life: How Social Media Biometric Patterns Affect, warning that exposed biometric data creates a serious authentication risk across a wide range of digital scenarios, including the Metaverse.
William Malik, Vice President of Infrastructure Strategies at Trend Micro, said: “The use of biometrics is championed by some as a more secure, easier-to-use alternative for passwords. However, unlike passwords, our features can’t be easily changed. So, a compromise could have a long-lasting impact on users. Hijacking a user’s Metaverse profile in the future could be similar to gaining complete access to their PC.”
As outlined in the report, threat actors in the future may be able to use stolen or leaked biometric data to trick connected devices, such as VR/AR headsets, into logging them in as someone else. That could open the door to data theft, fraud and extortion.
Trend Micro’s report is intended to generate more dialogue in the IT and security community about how to head off such potential risks. It warns that huge volumes of biometric details, including face, voice, iris, palm and fingerprint patterns, are already being exposed online in high enough quality to trick authentication systems.
