As the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading globally has created new challenges for businesses worldwide. Many of us have had to adapt our lives to accommodate the new reality and it makes work from home a new normal. This blog/article may help you to know about what is happening and how to protect yourself and your organization.
The biggest opportunity for cyber offenders to adapt and are taking merit of this pandemic to launch cyber-attacks. Organizations are accelerating their digital transformation, and cyber security is currently a major concern. The operational, reputational, legal and compliance implications can be considerable if cyber security risks are neglected.
Many of the researchers have found that there has been a momentous surge in cyber-security crime during the Covid-19 pandemic. The researchers reveal that on some days around four to five new cyber-attacks were being reported, specifically related to cyber crime campaigns and governmental policy announcements.
The attackers often target the public, who are working from home as well as currently socializing and spending more time online. There were many reports of scams impersonating public authorities like the WHO, and firms (supermarkets), and airlines targeting support platforms like PPE and offering Covid-19 cures.
Such kinds of scams can be sent by e-mail or text. But in most cases, a URL pointed to a fake website that requests debit card or credit card details.
The researchers have concluded that among the attacks that occurred in this pandemic situation, the distribution is like 10% of DoS, 7% of hacking, 11% of pharming, 36% of financial fraudulent activities, 64% of malware attacks, and 87% of phishing or smishing approximately.
Most of the digital attacks start with a phishing campaign that directs targets to access a URL or download a file. This URL or the file can act as the malware carrier for financial fraud, once it was installed.