Microsoft Corp.’s new security chief Charlie Bell issued a call to arms to build protection from hackers and criminals in the emerging metaverse from the start of the new technology.
“There’s going to be a lot of innovation and there will be a lot of struggling to figure out what has to be done,” Bell said in an interview. “But I think because of the speed, there will be fast innovation on the security side.”
The metaverse — a concept that promises to let users live, work and play within interconnected virtual worlds — will present some unique and more serious security challenges for technology and cybersecurity companies. As an example, hackers may be able to make avatars that look like a user’s trusted contacts, a twist on the traditional email phishing scheme that will be hard for users to resist, he said. The nature of the metaverse, which offers the possibility of less centralized control of content and users, also is a challenge for those trying to protect customers.
