Combating Cyber Security in the Covid-19 Era

by Maria S

December 7, 2020

in Online, Privacy, Remote Work, Security, technology, Web hosting

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Cyber Security this year has take a toll on business’s. Cyber criminals have grasped the pandemic, looking for new opportunities surrounding Covid-19 for their own gain, providing business’s with new threats everyday. This forces them to rethink their entire cyber security approach accordingly, in order to protect their business and employees. The disruption of this pandemic has caused business’s to fight their way through security and business continuity.

Cyber attackers have been phishing the web for decades in order to find the most up-to-date topics that people are interested in, in order to steal their personal data (eg. login credentials, credit card numbers). This year the mutual topic of interest has been Covid-19. People are highly vulnerable at this time, which makes it a great opportunity for attack. Here are some ways attackers have been disguising themselves for their own personal gain.

Pandemic-related Scams

Specifically, pandemic-related email phishing scams can be disguised as information from the World Health Organization or pretend to have information about stimulus checks. Hackers are using false domains to fabricate Zoom meeting notifications and to create fake COVID-19 themed emails.

Risk For Remote Workers & E-Learning

For example, these include unprotected video conference links or hacked video conference passwords, which can be used to access a company’s network. Also, some people working from home might be using unsecured networks. Platforms such as, Skype, Zoom and Google Meet are reported targets of cybercrime.

Delays in cyber-attack detection and response

How many security teams function has most probably been impaired due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has made the detection of threatening activities difficult to attack and respond to. Updating patches on systems may also be a challenge if security teams are not operational.

Fake products

Several websites claim to sell masks or corona-virus remedies. What they do is take money and credit card details from customers without providing them with any products.

Making a shift to your cyber security tactics and a change to your employees working from home behavior, can positively impact your business. Working from home has brought a lot of changes to the business world. But relaxed security standards shouldn’t be one of them as we see the threat toll rising exponentially.

Consumers are constantly using their unsecured devices to access corporate systems, Unfortunately, they are unwillingly inviting the criminals in. Statistics show that, 29% of remote workers are connecting to unsecured networks and 40% are browsing and downloading content from websites that may contain malware.

Here are a few steps to follow to make sure you are cyber security ready:

BUSINESS’S

Modify security for remote-work
Recognize the threats your organization
Provide your employees with the right tools
Educate your employees on the surrounding threats
Deploy antivirus suitable to handle remote work

INDIVIDUALS

Use good difficult to guess password
Keep systems and software updated
Secure your WiFi access point
Use a VPN

To conclude, Covid-19 will disrupt our current work style with new cyber security issues and new proposed policies. Ultimately, all left for us to do is adapt to these changes in order to stay on top of the game.

The fight against Covid-19 is not just for the organisations, employees and customer are now in a joint effort to combat covid as a worldwide business threat.