Coronavirus Ups the Ante for Cyberattacks

#corona #covid #cybersecurity #cybercrime

The increased number of people that are now working from their homes has created a rich environment for hackers. While security in the office may have been stepped up, that is not always the case from home. COVID-19 attacks are covering the gamut, from ransomware to malicious spying and even some of the most diligent staffers are falling prey.

Wired.com stated:

“Overall daily internet usage has increased around the world during the pandemic, but John Graham-Cumming, chief technology officer of the internet infrastructure company Cloudflare, says that he and other infrastructure providers he’s spoken to aren’t concerned about handling the load. But Cloudflare’s protective mechanisms have blocked between 50 and 70 percent more assaults, like distributed denial of service attacks, in recent weeks compared to January. Graham-Cumming largely attributes this spike to amateur experimentation.”

Microsoft reports that Coronavirus-themed attacks have hit over 241 countries around the globe. As people seek out information regarding the virus, they will open emails and click on links that seem to promised updates and data. As if a global pandemic isn’t enough, it appears that cybercriminals have decided to take advantage of those in fear and anguish.

As cybersecurity information is being updated and tracked, cybersecurity organizations are seeing a pattern. The maps clearly show that as each country experiences an uptick in COVID-19, there is an increase in cyberattacks.

There is a bit of good news in all of this. Analysis has shown that there actually hasn’t been a drastic increase in cyberattacks, just a realignment of how they lure people in. The cyberattacks have changed the topic, but there has only been about a 2% increase in overall attacks. Another positive is that cyberattacks from China to the U.S. has almost come to a halt as those hackers can’t work from home.

Criminals are looking into some of the more popular changes that COVID-19 has caused. With the increase in teleconferencing there has also been an increase in attacks on the platforms that are used. The new term of “Zoombombers” has been coined as they disrupt meetings and crash the conferences.

The criminals know that companies that are currently relying on skeleton or minimal crews on site are more likely to be focused on the jobs that they have to do rather than potential hacking or breaches. Those employees that are working from home may not have up to date firewall software. With entire families restricted to home as a group, there is a good chance that kids will be using the net at a higher rate and they often lack the ability to recognize phishing or hacking symptoms.

“Da Vinci Forensics continues to be at the forefront of cybersecurity information. As we all get through the pandemic crisis we must be diligent at protecting our proprietary and personal data. It is imperative that you be on the alert for cyberattacks, make sure that your security software and firewalls are up to date, and educate all family members to the dangers of opening unknown emails and clicking on suspicious websites. We will get through this together but it will require that everyone is attentive to hacking hazards.” Da Vinci Forensics

Originally published at https://davinciforensics.co.za.