There’s no doubt about the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic caught the world off guard. It has adversely affected organizations both big and small. The vital social distancing and security measures have encouraged businesses to embrace new ways of functioning. This calls in much need for IT services. Many of the companies across the globe are on a shift towards remote working in order to ensure the safety of their employees as well as the continuity of the services they offer. This way, almost all of the organization’s data is taken online where much of the transactions and communications take place. This in turn increases the chances for cybersecurity threats that could adversely affect the organizations.
Cyber attacks are nothing new. Ever since the internet and its related services gained popularity, cybersecurity has been a big issue. Even though cyber-attacks and threats have been around for a long time, what’s interesting about them is that they emerge with a new form every time. All kinds of malware, phishing, DoS, and man-in-the-middle attacks remain the most popular form of cybersecurity attacks and they seem to take a new shape with every passing day. In the light of the present COVID-19 pandemic, coronavirus-related spam is what’s new in the world of cyber threats. Newly developed websites with coronavirus related content might be set up for malware infection. The number of spam e-mails with the same content is also on the rise. These e-mails might pose to be from reputed outlets like the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control. You also have to look out for fake surveys with the same content. IBM X-Force has reported a 4,300 percent increase in coronavirus themed spam since February of this year. A study conducted by the cybersecurity company Positive Technologies shows that the banking sector is highly prone to cybersecurity threats as well. In fact, most of the banking apps on both iOS and Android have vulnerabilities that can be easily taken advantage of. Much of these apps provide attackers with easy access to user data. Statistics show that 76% of these vulnerabilities could be exploited without any physical access to the user device. In a webinar organized by IDRBT, the former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, R Gandhi spoke about the importance of banks upgrading their structure, operations, and approach towards cybersecurity.
The cybercriminals are taking a time of adversity like this to their advantage. Any sector accessing internet services is prone to cyber threats. Since most of the businesses now are struggling to keep themselves from sinking, they often tend to overlook the importance of cybersecurity. Ever since the pandemic has normalized the work-from-home concept, much of the business is happening online. The data related to an organization is taken online so that they can be accessed by authorized personnel.
This even includes crucial infrastructure-related data of the organization. The wide-spread use of collaboration tools for team interactions, accessibility of data on endpoint devices, and lack of focus towards IT infrastructure all heightens the risk of possible cybersecurity threats and attacks. Logging in to an online database is a piece of cake for any skilled hacker. So bringing your organization’s data online means that they are accessible to more people than you could possibly think of.
In such a scenario, the utmost priority should be given to the cybersecurity measures. Bringing your business online might prove to be very profitable and convenient for both the organization and its employees. But you have to be aware of both the good and the bad. When sharing data and doing transactions online, you should be vigilant about the possible risks and cyber-attacks that you might have to face and should be prepared to avoid, tackle, and survive the same.
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