“Unsatisfactory” cybersecurity measures amongst play-to-earn (P2E) crypto video games pose a fantastic danger to GameFi initiatives and their players alike, warns blockchain cybersecurity auditor Hacken.

In an Aug. 1 report shared with Cointelegraph, Hacken mentioned that information signifies that Gaming Finance (GameFi) initiatives, the class which P2E video games would fall underneath, usually “put earnings above safety” by releasing merchandise with out taking applicable precautions in opposition to hackers.

“GameFi initiatives […] don’t comply with even probably the most important cybersecurity suggestions, leaving malicious actors quite a few entry factors for assaults.”

P2E video games usually incorporate nonfungible tokens (NFTs) of their ecosystems along with crypto. The most important initiatives, equivalent to Axie Infinity (AXS) and Stepn (GMT) use a big selection of merchandise designed to boost the gaming expertise, equivalent to token bridges, blockchain networks, or bodily merchandise.

Hacken researchers discovered that primarily based on information collected by crypto safety rating service CER.reside., there have been extreme deficiencies in GameFi cybersecurity particularly. It discovered that out of 31 GameFi tokens studied, none obtained the highest safety rating AAA, whereas 16 obtained the worst D rating.

Rankings for every mission have been decided by weighting varied points of their cybersecurity, equivalent to token audits, whether or not they have a bug bounty and insurance coverage, and if the staff is public.

Hacken’s report defined that GameFi initiatives usually scored low because it discovered that no P2E initiatives had insurance coverage protection which may assist initiatives get well funds instantly within the occasion of a hack.

The dearth of insurance coverage is partially confirmed by crypto insurance coverage agency InsurAce’s chief advertising and marketing officer Dan Thomson, who informed Cointelegraph on Thursday that it was not protecting any P2E initiatives.

The report additionally discovered that solely two initiatives have an energetic bug bounty program in place. Axie Infinity and Aavegotchi have bug bounties that award financial compensation to white hat hackers for locating bugs within the mission’s code.

Lastly, it discovered that whereas 14 initiatives have obtained a token audit, solely 5 have accomplished a platform audit which may discover potential safety holes within the mission’s total ecosystem. These includeAavegotchi, The Sandbox, Radio Caca, Alien Worlds, and DeFi Kingdoms.

The report additionally pointed to token bridges as a vulnerability for P2E video games. Axie Infinity’s Ronin token bridge was the positioning of one of many crypto trade’s largest hacks ever when it misplaced over $600 million in tokens in March.

$2B in crypto stolen from cross-chain bridges this 12 months: Chainalysis

As P2E video games develop in reputation, there’ll doubtless be a rise within the variety of safety exploits and greenback worth stolen from initiatives, mentioned Hacken. The agency has suggested players to carry out their very own safety examine of initiatives earlier than sinking a big sum of cash into them.

“And, after all, understand that investing in P2Es stays a doubtlessly worthwhile however fairly dangerous affair.”

On Aug. 3, crypto analyst Miles Deutscher requested rhetorically the place the subsequent crypto safety concern could come from. Deutscher could have his reply.

We went from:

> Meme cash not being protected
> DeFi ponzis not being protected
> Stablecoins not being protected
> Prime 10 L1s not being protected
> Bridges not being protected
> CEXs not being protected
> Wallets not being protected

What’s subsequent..

— Miles Deutscher (@milesdeutscher) August 4, 2022