Cyber criminals have had a lot of fun during the Covid-19 pandemic. A new report by cybersecurity company McAfee has demonstrated there was an average of 375 new threats per minute during the first quarter of 2020 as criminals sought to exploit the global pandemic.
According to the McAfee Covid-19 Threat Report, cyber criminals have been exploiting the pandemic through coronavirus-related malicious apps, phishing campaigns and malware, focusing on topics such as testing, treatments, cures and remote work.
In addition, McAfee Labs counted a total of 458 publicly disclosed security incidents, an increase of 41 per cent from the fourth quarter of last year. Half of all these incidents took place in North America, mainly in the US, followed by nine per cent in Europe. In particular, public sector attacks increased by 73 per cent during the time period.
“What began as a trickle of phishing campaigns and the occasional malicious app quickly turned into a deluge of malicious URLs and capable threat actors leveraging the world’s thirst for more information on Covid-19 as an entry mechanism into systems across the globe,” said McAfee fellow and chief scientists Raj Samani.
For businesses, this is a concern given that many people are working from home using networks that may not be as secure as the ones in a physical office. A separate report by email security firm Tessian surveying 1,000 workers found that 25 per cent of respondents admitted to clicking on a link in a phishing email at work.
But the rise in cyber crime has implications beyond just everyday life: the US Justice Department recently filed criminal charges in federal court in Washington DC against two Chinese hackers it has accused of targeting companies developing coronavirus vaccines.
Make sure to take the time to familiarise yourself with good security techniques such as using secure passwords for accounts, don’t re-use the same password, and don’t open attachments from suspicious people or email accounts you don’t know.
And HMRC isn’t going to text you to tell you you have a tax rebate so make sure to delete that straight away too.
