American workers are continuing to face business disruption in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it isn’t the only disruption threatening the stability of your business.
Bad actors are now exploiting the biological virus to spread cyber viruses to those looking for information on the global pandemic or swiftly trying to accommodate remote work. Google reports that it is now filtering eighteen million emails a day to spam related to this sort of scam!
In an alert released on April 8th, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced they are “seeing a growing use of COVID-19-related themes by malicious cyber actors. At the same time, the surge in teleworking has increased the use of potentially vulnerable services, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), amplifying the threat to individuals and organizations.”
Link to the Full Report: https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-099a
No one is safe from these attacks, with reports of both individuals and organizations of all sizes being affected. Malicious cyber actors rely on basic social engineering methods to entice a user to carry out a specific action. These actors are taking advantage of human traits such as curiosity and concern around the coronavirus pandemic.
Key Techniques of the Cyber Attacks
Cyber-criminals target victims with COVID-19-related scams and phishing emails using the subject of “coronavirus” or “COVID-19” as a lure.
Malware distribution, using coronavirus- or COVID-19- themed lures
Registration of new domain names containing wording related to coronavirus or COVID-19
Attacks against newly—and often rapidly—deployed remote access and teleworking infrastructure.
To create the impression of authenticity, malicious cyber actors may spoof sender information in an email to make it appear to come from a trustworthy source.
This is a strong reminder why your organization needs secure web communication protocols in place and the IT infrastructure to back it up. From simple guidance on how to work better as an organization with Microsoft Teams or providing updates to Windows 10, to full-scale IT assessment for identifying how we can update your organization’s IT systems and infrastructure (and possibly help to reduce cost), Pioneer Technology can help turn your business disruption into stability.
Are you concerned your organization is vulnerable? Let’s start a conversation!