We knew that any type of newsworthy topic was going to give cybercriminals so much opportunity – and COVID-19 gave them so much bang for the buck.  Just because this was something affecting the world in a detrimental way would never be reason enough for hackers to take a break.  They were going to take full advantage of the situation regardless of how much worse it could make things for people during their time of need or vulnerability.

When talking about cyber criminals sending malicious emails, COVID-19 has undoubtedly been a hot topic, with links that falsely promise virus information, testing sites, fake supplies, and more. Using their well-established phishing tactics, scammers have been busy creating spear-phishing emails to trick their victims and deploy malware.

The Data

The cybersecurity company Cynet released a report from details gathered since the beginning of the pandemic that talks through the changes that they were able to observe.  This report states that 35% of attacks this year were of a new format – as compared with 20% in years prior.  This means that there probably weren’t methods in place to detect these attacks as they were unheard of.

With the onslaught of cybercrime, came the increase in the need for cybersecurity staff.  There was a noted 250% increase in engagements with clients in need of expert assistance.

This doesn’t mean that today we are better prepared.  Yes, there might be more of an awareness, but that doesn’t mean that the targeted businesses and their staff are informed and aware of how to resist clicking on malicious links or recognize them in the first place.  Ongoing training is critical – we can’t emphasize that enough.

So, the risk is rising and the burden is increasing – are you matching these increases with your own rise in awareness to offset the chance of becoming another statistic?  Are you upping your game when it comes to training? It is up to you to realize the importance of having the right tool to do the job.