We have listed down 5 items on how Corona is impacting the cybersecurity landscape.
The list discusses:
- Threat actors
- Criminal organisations
- Working from home
- Social engineering
- Patches and updates
Threat Actors
Threat actors will abuse Corona in order to gain data or knowledge from their targets. One of the latest known attacks which was reported, was the Corona map website which was serving malware.
This shows that threat actors will adopt, and in this case, they adopted to the request of having a global Corona infection map. Luckily this site was discovered and action was taken.
Criminal organisations
A big example can be found in The Netherlands. The Netherlands has a ‘gedoogd’ policy on weed, this means that it is accepted in small dosage but if the government wants to take action on it, they can and they will. One day you can smoke your joint with no issues, the other day you will be fined for it.
Now the government has decided that all coffeeshops need to close as of today until the 6th of April 2020.
This will reflect on criminals which will see the chance to make big money. Already multiple websites have launched which sell weed via Bitcoin payments.
Footage has also been released of drug-dealers which are literally handing out ‘business’ cards to weed smokers.
Working from home
Governments have also asked all to work from home when possible, this means that all of the criminals are aware that communication can be a problem in some cases. These criminals will adopt to this issue and create chances for themselves. Be extra aware of phishing attacks and always verify transactions with your supervisor. Be extra vigilant when surfing the web.
Do you own a company?
In these times, it is welcome to do some extra security checks. Burglars have a perfect landscape made for them. Most offices are empty, most security staff is at home and there is little to no monitoring.
Social Engineering
If for any chance you get a visitor at your company/house door, and you do not know that person, then do not hesitate to ask for identification while keeping the 1.5 meter distance. Verify if there is any reason for that person to be there. If there is no reason, politely ask them to leave, and if needed, call the emergency number like 112 or 911.
Security updates and patches
While everyone is fighting COVID-19, a lot of system engineers and security professionals are requested to keep the networks and system online and secure. This might be a challenge for some as the whole situation of taking care of that while working at home can be new. This again creates a chance for cybercriminals to perform action.