Privacy and cybersecurity issues facing the metaverse: An analysis of technological and institutional factors

The metaverse presents several unique challenges from security and privacy standpoints. This paper offers a detailed description and analysis of technological environment and institutional factors that can lead to increased privacy violations and security breaches in the metaverse. On the technological front, it discusses how various features of the metaverse such as newness, novelty and complexity of technologies involved, data intensiveness and weak architectural security of the metaverse are likely to provide a fruitful environment for cybercriminals and other perpetrators. The paper analyzes the level and nature of the impacts of privacy violations and security breaches on consumers and victims in the metaverse environment. It also demonstrates how security breaches in the metaverse are likely to lead to immediate harms to victims. It promotes an understanding of how institutions at various level are related to privacy and security risks in the metaverse. 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 the metaverse. It also argues that the preparedness to provide security and privacy in the metaverse’s multidimensional and multi-sensory environment is currently lacking at the industry level. • The metaverse presents several unique challenges from security and privacy standpoints. • Key features of the metaverse provide a fruitful environment for perpetrators. • Security breaches in the metaverse are likely to lead to immediate harms to victims. • Institutions at various level to handle privacy and security risks in the metaverse are underdeveloped.