AI is reshaping the digital and gaming worlds with smarter content moderation, immersive in-game experiences and powerful analytics. But as these platforms embrace AI’s capabilities to elevate user engagement and safety, cybercriminals are also levelling up. They’re weaponising AI to automate attacks, uncover and exploit vulnerabilities faster and evade traditional cybersecurity defences.
This dual-edged nature of artificial intelligence raises a critical question. Is AI genuinely increasing the complexity of cyber threats, or is it merely speeding up the exploitation of weaknesses that already exist? The answer lies somewhere in between and understanding the balance is vital for digital and gaming companies that want to protect platform integrity.
AI: A Game-Changer for Cybersecurity Threats
Threat actors are leveraging AI-driven tools to automate phishing campaigns, generate convincing deepfake content for social engineering and scan code or networks for security flaws at unprecedented speeds. This automation not only amplifies the scale of attacks but also their sophistication, enabling threat actors to adapt quickly and evade detection.
However, AI is not necessarily the root cause in such attacks. AI may be increasing the speed, scale and sophistication of attacks, but often the vulnerabilities that are being exploited already exist. AI enables threat actors to identify and exploit existing weaknesses more efficiently and with greater speed, but human error remains the most exploited vulnerability. According to the Verizon Data Breach Report a staggering 98% of cyberattacks still rely on social engineering tactics to infiltrate networks, highlighting just how effective manipulation and deception continue to be in bypassing technical defences.
The Market Value of Online Gaming: More Than Just Play
The online gaming industry has evolved beyond leisure activity. It is now a global market worth hundreds of billions. Recent reports estimate the gaming industry as a whole surpassed $180 billion in annual revenue, making it larger than the film and music industries combined. A massive part of that growth comes from online platforms, where players not only play, but also build, buy, and sell digital assets with real-world value. Value which makes the industry even more appealing to cyber criminals.
In 2011, a well-known Diablo III player reported that their account was compromised. The estimated value of the account exceeded several hundred thousand dollars. That wasn’t an isolated case - in games like World of Warcraft, CS:GO and RuneScape, some items have been sold for tens of thousands of dollars on secondary markets.
Then there’s the role of microtransactions. These are the small in-game purchases that allow players to buy skins, boosts, or currency. While a $2.99 upgrade might not seem like much, multiply that across millions of users and you’ve got an economic engine powering much of modern gaming. Some games thrive almost entirely on these purchases, demonstrating how developers have shifted from one-time sales to continuous monetisation models.
Gaming isn’t just entertainment. It’s an investment of time, money and digital identity.
What This Means for Digital and Gaming Platforms
As AI-driven threats continue to evolve, maintaining integrity is becoming increasingly complex. In the gaming world, platforms are grappling with sophisticated risks such as AI-powered cheat bots that undermine fair play, deepfake-driven identity theft and large-scale account takeovers executed with speed and precision. These threats not only disrupt user experience but also erode trust and damage brand reputation, making proactive security measures more critical than ever.
AI-powered cheating tools are becoming harder to detect, while automated scripts fuelled by AI can farm rewards, manipulate in-game economies or scalp rare digital assets with speed and precision. Meanwhile, credential-stuffing attacks have grown more sophisticated, with AI mimicking human behaviour to bypass simple defences and compromise player accounts at scale.
The risks extend beyond gameplay. Deepfake technology is enabling highly convincing impersonations of streamers, celebrities or even customer-support staff, tricking players and companies into handing over access or making fraudulent transactions. Attackers are using synthetic faces and voices to bypass identity checks, while AI-powered bots disrupt virtual economies for profit.
Digital platforms that rely heavily on user-generated content face a different but equally pressing challenge. AI-generated fake reviews, misinformation and harmful content are becoming harder to detect, often slipping past traditional moderation filters. As malicious actors leverage generative AI to scale and refine their tactics, platforms must rethink their approach to content governance, moderation and threat detection.
Strategies for Developers and Infrastructure Providers
Defending against these threats requires a layered approach. Advanced anti-cheat systems, stronger authentication like passkeys and MFA, vigilant monitoring for synthetic identities and education for both players and staff on spotting AI-driven scams.
And despite being part of the threat, AI also offers significant opportunities for defence against AI-driven attacks. When used effectively, it can enhance security processes, streamline operations and drive greater efficiency and agility. Digital and gaming companies should embrace AI and adopt a multi-layered approach to cybersecurity to combat threat actors.
By integrating AI into defence systems and leveraging machine learning to detect anomalous behaviour, identify emerging threats and respond in real time, digital and gaming organisations can stay one step ahead. Traditional, manual approaches simply can’t keep pace with the speed and sophistication of AI-driven attacks so continuous monitoring through AI and automation are essential techniques.
Identity and access management should also be strengthened with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) concepts, working to reduce the risk of breaches and lateral movement within the network. Combined with behavioural analytics, these techniques can help detect and block automated breach attempts before they cause damage.
AI is changing the cybersecurity playing field for digital and gaming companies. But it can be both a powerful ally and a formidable adversary. Successful cybersecurity means understanding AI’s dual role and embracing innovative defences to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. By doing so, organisations can level up their security posture and maintain control over their platforms in an AI-driven world.
Mike Beevor is the CTO of Principle Networks, where he helps organisations build resilient, well-architected security ecosystems. He previously held senior positions at Zscaler and continues to advocate for the principled approach to cybersecurity that refuses to compromise long-term security for short-term convenience.
