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COVID -19 Cyber Threats Shown That Employees May Be The Easiest Target In Any Organisation

By Ibrahim Beycanli on Saturday, 24 October, 2020

The start of the year 2020 carried along discussions about the coronavirus family of viruses and how they are impacting our daily lives.

COVID -19 Cyber Threats Shown That Employees May Be The Easiest Target In Any Organisation

The start of the year 2020 carried along discussions about the coronavirus family of viruses and how they are impacting our daily livesIn a world where panic is rife and the urge to feel informed, provides cyber criminals a massive field of unsuspecting victims. 

 

Kevin Mitnick, the world's most famous (former) American computer hacker, has been the subject of countless news and magazine articles. Standing as the idol of thousands of would-be hackers, and a one-time "most wanted" criminal of cyberspace. 

Now a security consultant, Mr. Mitnick has also written various books on cyber security. In his book, ‘The Art of Deception and The Art of Intrusion (2005)’ he underlined that the ‘good’ characteristic of human nature is the ‘glitch’ that make us vulnerable to the techniques used by computer hackers. 

 

It is ‘crystal clear’ that we were not prepared for COVID-19 crisis. Our society is dependent on digital infrastructure more than ever and the curious nature of human psyche, especially in times of uncertainty, have caused a huge influx in the presence of cyber-attacksUnfortunately, and sadly, hackers are targeting employees – whom are not necessarily ‘tech savvy’ but suddenly became accustomed to use technology for their daily lives - and they are succeeding at overwhelming levels.  

 

According to the reports received by Action Fraud “Hackers have already scammed £1.6m by exploiting Covid – 19 fears”. Numerous reports are being received daily and it is suggested that very soon we will see phishing attempts, fake news or malicious websites starting to focus on topics such as: “Finally, your COVID-19 tests have arrived!” or “your free COVID-19 testing centre is now open!” 

 

It seems that society will take years to recover from the pandemic. We were unsure how to react and the cyber criminals took this opportunity to benefit. Many researchers believe that cyber security education is an topic that is, more than ever, a  mandatory in every organisation. There is no way we could expect individuals to stay vigilant if they do not even know the basics of technology. We were not prepared, yet, an organisation can always start investing in their cyber security and educating their employees before it’s too late 

 



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