COVID-19: Cybercriminals Attack Homes

• COVID-19: Cybercriminals Attack Homes

Mohamed Razek, the Regional Chief Information Officer, Africa & Middle East, Standard Chartered, Islamic Banking, said as more organisations allow their employees to work from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, cybercriminals have now taken the trade to homes.

Razek disclosed this in a report on ‘Ensuring business continuity during COVID-19.’

He said, “If cybersecurity was not at the top of a chief information officer’s list before, it should be now.

“Cybercriminals are well aware of the increase in employees currently working from home and are shifting their tactics to attack home networks, in an effort to infect devices that are connected to the organisation’s VPN.

“The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has warned that cybercriminals are exploiting the disruption caused by COVID-19 through a range of phishing and malware attacks which are likely to proliferate.

“Check Point, a cybersecurity firm has found that since January 2020, there have been over 4,000 coronavirus-related domains registered globally with three per cent found to be malicious and an additional five per cent suspicious.”

With several malicious and suspicious websites, employees need to be updated on security measures along with guidance on how to identify phishing and malware attempts.

Cybercriminals know staff with little to zero knowledge are more vulnerable to attacks when compared to companies with established IT departments and experts. Therefore, they have shifted their focus to homes.