Every day you hear people complaining of cyber-bullying as hackers are stealing now more than ever. For instance, hackers are taking advantage of the pandemic fear and disruption to steal private information from people. At the moment, cyber-security professionals revealed the same to CNBC. As a result of the virus spread, many employees are working from home to respect the social distancing rule.
By the use of the internet, employees are more vulnerable to attacks. Furthermore, authorities are using contact tracing to identify infected individuals. Besides, Surveyors are publishing the infection numbers online. It is an opportunity for cyber-criminals to steal information. According to the reports, they can do this by sending scam emails or by posing as health authorities.
Almost everyone is involved
Etay Maor, the chief security officer at cyber- intelligence firm IntSights, has done his research about the situation at hand. He says last year there were at least 190 domain names on the internet with the term “corona” and “COVID.” As of 31st March, the number of domain names with those terms featured a rise to seventy thousand. Maor says not all of them are bad, they are registered and legit. However, some turn out to be phishing attacks.
Most of the criminals try to access confidential information such as log-in and credit card details. Maor says the bullies present themselves as a reliable figure, such as a government organization or a banking institution. Furthermore, Etay says whenever there is a significant event happens, attackers take the opportunity by creating phishing sites.
The fraudsters are preying people during this trying time of Coronavirus, as many want to know more about the disease. Besides, they may offer face masks as well as sanitizers to excuse their evil intentions. According to Maor, in recent weeks, more sophisticated players are in the game, including nation-state actors.
The vulnerability of working from home
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many people around the world are working from home. Not long ago, online platforms have seen an increase in the number of people working online. The use of remote tools, such as video conferencing services is high. Now, this broadens the range of vulnerabilities for cybercriminals to exploit.
The cyber attackers are not targeting people with only phishing emails but also with remote working platforms. Online platforms create a notable security risk as well as virtual private networks used by people to log-in to office servers. For instance, take an example of the video conferencing platform known as Zoom.
In the last few months, the platform has added millions of users as people are working from home following the social distancing rule. The company is now facing challenges over its security fall. Kaspersky’s Yeo says that working from home, and downloading files from hackers’ sites can easily make you a target.
Conclusion
You should limit the places to get information from, especially during this trying time of the Coronavirus. Protection of your data begins with you, be wise, and avoid the insecure site. Do not download things that you shouldn’t. Furthermore, you can seek guidance from IT organizations.
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