Security Ledger’s Paul Roberts hosted a number of Bugcrowders on a recent podcast to discuss security in the gaming industry. Jason Haddix, VP of Researcher Engagement; JP Villanueva, Senior Trust & Security Engineer; Dan Trauner, Director of Platform Security; and Adam David, Software Engineer discussed how and why some of the most popular games fall down on security and the opportunities for the best gamers to become bug hunters.
These modern-day game environments have their own mini – and sometimes not so mini – economies and communities. They have marketplaces, buyers, sellers, and a vast array of virtual goods worth billions of (real) dollars. All these aspects makes games a huge target for hackers.
Despite the increased risks, security is an afterthought for some game publishers. Their main focus is to get their game to market, for better or for worse. This tremendous pressure to get games out on time to meet fan expectations is why they de-prioritize security.
There are a number couple of big players in the gaming industry that do care a great deal about security, including Valve, EA, and Blizzard. They have security teams in place with operations and procedures that are dedicated to their games and the economies and communities within those games.
To learn more about security in the gaming industry, how gaming publishers can improve the security of their games, and how some of the best gamers may have new careers as bug hunters, listen to the entire Security Ledger podcast.
