Privacy violations, security breaches, and other threats

Abstract

This chapter looks at key features of Web3 and the metaverse from privacy and security angles. It offers a detailed description of technological-environment and institutional-level factors that can lead to increased privacy violations and security breaches in Web3 and the metaverse. The chapter will discuss how newness, novelty, and complexity of technologies involved and weak architectural security of Web3 and the metaverse are likely to provide a fruitful environment for cybercriminals and other perpetrators. On the regulatory front, it points out that privacy and security laws of the Web2 era are not sufficient to deal with the environments of Web3 and the metaverse. It analyzes the level and nature of the impacts of privacy violations and security breaches on consumers and victims in the Web3 and the metaverse environments. It gives special consideration to the multisensory environment of the metaverse, which can lead to more adverse impacts on users and victims in cases of privacy violations and security breaches. The chapter also demonstrates how security breaches in Web3 and the metaverse are likely to lead to immediate harm to victims. It promotes an understanding of how blockchain, which is the key building block of Web 3 and the metaverse, can be vulnerable under certain conditions. The chapter also delves into cyberattacks and other malicious behaviors targeting crypto-assets such as cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are key enabling technologies of Web3 and the metaverse economies. It provides guidelines and suggestions for consumers, businesses, industries, and nations to enhance security of Web3 and the metaverse.