Gotta Catch Them All! But Is Pokémon Go a Cyber Crime Target?

Jul 18 2016, 4:23 AM4 min read

Pokémon Go is the new craze sweeping the world. It’s just a game, but how does it relate to real-life laws? And could it really be a target for cyber criminals?

Matthew Corley/Shutterstock.com

Last week, Nintendo launched its new ‘augmented reality’ game, Pokémon Go, across the world. Nintendo spread the launch dates out, with the USA, Australia and New Zealand first, and Europe and other parts of Asia launches in the following days.

For the uninitiated (and you’ll be hard pushed to be one of those with the blanket media coverage), the game blends digital characters from the successful Pokémon franchise, with GPS and location based technologies on smart phones.

Global Craze…and Growing

Within 24 hours of its US release last Tuesday, Pokémon Go had already overtaken its competition to be the biggest game of 2016. It moved to number 1 on App Store, and after 3 days had become the biggest mobile game in US history.

The game surpassed Twitter in terms of daily active users, and Facebook in terms of user engagement on its app. It’s also estimated that it may overtake Google Maps as the largest user of Alphabet’s mapping data.

The incredible growth has also helped Nintendo’s market value jump. It marks the end of a difficult period for Nintendo, who’s market value has been in decline since October 2015.

Nintendo’s market value increase by 10 per cent when the game went viral in the first week of July, with a further 25 per cent added by last Tuesday. This equates to nearly $9 billion added to the market value in less than a week.

Safety First!

The new craze has not been without its hiccups, however. In addition to people walking into walls and falling down holes while glued to their phones, there have also been reports of muggings and armed robbery facilitated by the game’s geolocation software.

Police in Australia have also issued a couple of public announcements in light of these incidents. They have asked the public to be aware of their surroundings while hunting Pokémon, that they shouldn’t use the app while driving, and that “I was collecting Pokémon” is not a defence for trespassing.

The final point brings into focus the issue of how augmented reality games will cope with country laws. As users are collecting characters in the real-world, the potential for trespass grows.

How this will be handled by businesses (some of whom are taking advantage of the craze) and locations (like Arlington National Cemetery) in the future will be interesting to see.

Pokémon Go a Cyber Target?

A number of experts have also argued that Nintendo’s launch could leave some users potentially vulnerable to cyber criminals. With a staggered launch, some users may have been tempted to download a version of the app from unverified third-party app stores. This could subsequently leave them vulnerable to malicious apps and malware.

These apps could then allow criminals to access smartphone data, spy on users, or even control phones remotely. Another report by security software company, Trend Micro, highlighted the risk posed by the game to individuals’ data.

Gamers who downloaded Pokémon Go and registered using a gmail account, could inadvertently give third parties access to private data. However, this issue could be mitigated by ensuring the correct privacy settings in the app.

Connected Devices

While the cyber crime risk for Pokémon Go seems fairly low, it may signify the start of a larger issue. The growth of augmented reality games, smartphone technology, and connected devices via the Internet of Things, does pose a cyber security risk.

But what is certain is that as the technology leaps forward, security provisions and investment needs to move forward too.

Have you jumped on the Pokémon Go bandwagon? Do you think talk about cyber crime for these games is realistic? Let us know.

We’ve dragged ourselves away from virtual creature capture long enough this week to bring you the weekly headlines…

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