With the pandemic crisis taking over the world, businesses and organizations are fighting against a sudden increase in cybersecurity threats. The COVID-19 outbreak is not only challenging in terms of health and medical concerns. There is a long list of consequences the current situation is going to leave us with, including economic and security-related consequences. Here is our take on the connection between the rising cybersecurity concerns and COVID-19.
What Is Happening During the Pandemic?
People around the world are focused on the current events and outcomes of the 2019/20 coronavirus pandemic. With such a mass shift of focus, hackers have spotted an opportunity to leverage on people’s fears and insecurities through phishing scams and a variety of other security threats. Given that people are being distracted by what seems to be a global catastrophe, there is plenty of room for cybercriminals to play.
On top of it all, businesses are sending employees to work from home, thus turning them into liabilities rather than assets. Without being aware of potential security risks, people are using unprotected personal devices to work from home. All of these unmonitored actions can lead to serious security breaches and irreparable consequences in the future.
There is no doubt that the pandemic has delivered an array of challenges across nearly every industry we know off. The health system is overloaded and the global economy is suffering more than ever before. The impact the outbreak has on business and individual security is tremendous. Domain registrants have reported a sudden rise in the number of new suspicious websites mostly related to the coronavirus. This goes to show that hackers are actively trying to take advantage of people’s vulnerabilities during this difficult period.
With more people staying home and getting work done outside of offices, digital communication tools have been overloaded. Some video software companies such as Zoom are under heavy criticism for the way they are handling security during such a difficult situation. Taiwan’s Department of Cyber Security even issued an advisory to all governments to prohibit the use of video programs such a Zoom. At the same time, the number of breached networks and email scams is growing rapidly, opening more doors to risk and concern.
What Can We Do?
At this moment, there is not much we can do to stop the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global cybersecurity. However, these two might be able to coexist if businesses and organizations take the right measures in time. It is important to proactively seek solutions even before a problem arises. With that said, businesses should put more focus than ever before on online security, and the security guidelines and protocols their employees are following.
It is crucial to keep entire teams on the same page regarding security procedures to avoid any unwanted incidents. The number of security threats is expected to rise even beyond the outbreak, meaning consistent security measures should become one of the top priorities for organizations of all sizes.