An Accelerated Migration Online Is Changing The Fraud Landscape
A top takeaway from this week’s fraud news is that when something unforeseen happens, we have to redefine how we address the problem.
We know the world has been moving online. That process has been going on for some time. It’s even safe to say the migration has been accelerating. But as the COVID-19 crisis continues, this move online is accelerating at a blistering and unprecedented pace. People are working remotely. Students are engaging in distance learning. Formerly brick-and-mortar events are going virtual. Video conferencing rates are surging:
While it’s good news that we’re collectively able to adapt quickly and leverage available technologies to keep things moving, it’s also essential to recognize that new threats are emerging as a result of all these changes and transitions. Dark Reading offered perspective on the matter earlier this week:
“Many companies, concerned for employees’ health amid the rapid spread of coronavirus, have begun encouraging them to work from home. The shift, rightly done to protect people from infection, could also potentially expose organizations to cyberattack if precautions aren’t taken.”
Exclusive new data from DataVisor’s research team, led by Dr. Ting-Fang Yen, makes clear that fraudsters are adapting to take advantage of the changing digital landscape:
“The COVID-19 crisis is having an almost incalculable impact across the globe, and we’re still only just starting to understand the potential scope. Exploitive fraudulent activity is one of the many critical concerns we’ll need to urgently address on an ongoing basis. As can be seen from our data, fraudster activity is evolving and adapting, but it’s not slowing down. It’s especially important to understand that, when it comes to fraud attacks, different industries and sectors are being impacted in different ways, and that there is no one-size-fits-all response.”
There have already been almost too many examples to count of coronavirus-related fraud attacks perpetrated to-date, from scams related to mask sales:
to a phishing attack pretending to offer a tax refund:
Earlier this week, DataVisor CEO Yinglian Xie was interviewed by Karen Webster for PYMNTS. The two discussed the behavioral parallels between human viruses out in the real world and computer viruses in the virtual one, and specifically highlighted new dangers as fraudsters look to exploit the crisis for illicit gains:
Included among the themes that emerge from their conversation were the following:
- Attack types such as phishing and social engineering depend on vulnerability to succeed, and vulnerability goes up in crisis times.
- Unforeseen events can render legacy defenses impotent, and for prevention strategies to succeed, early detection capabilities are required.
- This real-world virus is accelerating a global move online, and this potentially plays into the hands of fraudsters who are adept at perpetrating digital fraud attacks. Organizations accordingly need to accelerate their adoption of data-driven machine learning solutions to be better prepared.
Given all the concerns around exploitable vulnerabilities in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the arrival of this report’s findings made for some compelling headlines this week:
“The U.S. government is currently not designed to act with the speed and agility necessary to defend the country in cyberspace.”
The U.S. government is, of course, just one of many institutions concerned about potential increases in cybercrime. Banks are taking a good hard look at their defenses as well, as reported by Bloomberg news:
“The European Central Bank has warned banks to prepare for a possible jump in the number of cyber attacks as part of the fallout from the coronavirus. The watchdog urged banks in a letter this week to test the capacity of their technology systems ‘also in light of a potential increase of cyber-attacks and potential higher reliance on remote banking services.’”
As worrisome as all this news may be, it’s important to also look for those heartening stories that remind us of the goodness — and the good spirits — in the world. For our closing feature, we’ve chosen a tweet about something happening up in Seattle.
The Tweet of the Week!
On behalf of all at DataVisor, stay healthy, stay safe, wash your hands, and don’t touch your face! (And, don’t fall for any phishing scams!). We’ll see you next week for another edition of This Week in Fraud Trends!
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