Cyber threats are rising as hackers exploit coronavirus fears and work-from-home trend, experts warn
- Employees working from home inadvertently create a new layer of vulnerability by switching on compromised devices and applications
- Hackers are getting good at mimicking emails from health authorities in the current environment, warns one digital forensics expert
Cyber threats are growing amid the coronavirus pandemic, with online security experts warning that phishing scams are exploiting heightened fears among consumers and organisations.
Last month, amid rapidly rising Covid-19 infections in Italy, an email that had the appearance of being from the World Health Organisation was sent to more than 10 per cent of Italian organisations. The email, which bore the signature of a fictitious Italian doctor, claimed to have an attached document with guideline precautions against the infection.
In fact, clicking on the document downloaded a Trojan Horse – a type of malware program – that was designed to infiltrate banks.
In February, Japanese organisations suffered a similar attack from emails claiming to offer remedies and health advice for Covid-19.
These are examples of the type of cyberattacks that have been launched in the wake of the global pandemic, according to Check Point, a global cybersecurity firm. More than 16,000 domain names related to Covid-19 have been registered since January, with almost 10 per cent of them of suspicious intent.
“Compared to other domain name registrations, this is double the normal amount,” said Kevin Hau, a Hong Kong-based security specialist at Check Point. “Hackers are definitely trying to leverage on this opportunity.”
A report by IBM in 2019 found that the average cost of a data breach was nearly US$4 million and that the cost was highest in the health care industry. The annual Cost of Data Breach Report reported that the single biggest factor in overall losses was loss of customer trust.
