Cybersecurity’s Greatest Test: The Covid-19 Pandemic
Just like a physical virus, digital ones can spread too. What you can do to stay safe in the cyber world.
With our lives being more dependent than ever on the internet and digital connectivity in this time of outbreak isolation, cyber attacks are booming. Hackers are exploiting the Covid-19 crisis and spike in online traffic for all kinds of nefarious activity. Surges in crime are common during major national emergencies as attention and resources are re-directed. Issues like ransomware, eavesdropping, phishing and identity scams are proliferating at the moment.
Just recently, there were several “Zoom bombing” incidents during virtual meetings on the popular video conference platform Zoom. An Alcoholics Anonymous session was disrupted when an image of a person drinking was anonymously projected. Similarly, hackers broke into a meeting of the American Jewish Committee and posted anti-Semitic messages. These attacks have become an organized effort with groups gathering online at sites like Reddit and 4Chan to strategize on how to hack and harass virtual meetings.
Furthermore, hospital systems have been warned of possible ransomware attacks and have notified staff to be on the alert for odd e-mails. In these cases, if links are clicked, hackers can lock organizations out of their software and data system until a ransom is paid. On the personal level, average citizens are being targeted through social engineering ploys. There have been incidents of people’s passwords, network and personal data information extracted through faux Covid charitable causes and stimulus check claim posts. The Homeland Security acting chief information officer noted that an analysis of recently created websites associated with Covid-19 found that nearly one hundred of the sites reviewed were “actively malicious,” while over 2,000 were deemed “suspicious.”
While front line healthcare workers are tending to sick patients in overflowed hospitals, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Secret Service have been responding to threats from the cyber world. As of March 30th 2020, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has received and reviewed more than 1,200 complaints related to Covid-19 scams. This has become a massive problem that will only grow during the pandemic and even after the dust settles. The number of issues thus far has only heightened the need for the continual development and implementation of robust cyber security programs. With data breaches exposing 4.1 billion records in the first half of 2019 and hackers attacking every 39 seconds, on average 2,244 times a day, cyber security is as important as any other criminal activity.
The law is there to protect from these types of incidents. Hacking teleconferences and malicious activity could result in state and federal charges such as hate crimes, fraud, disrupting a public meeting, computer intrusion, using a computer to commit a crime and sending threatening communications. However, we should do our best to avoid being hacked in the first place. While cyber security and IT teams monitor and handle issues at the organization level, citizens are exposed without the proper education to protect themselves. 56% of Americans don’t know what steps to take in the event of a data breach.
What can we do? Just like social distancing and excessive hand washing, we need to have good “cyber hygiene.” Remember those new company on-boarding sessions from the IT department they made us do? I know you zoomed through that test without paying attention! Well, now is the time to re-learn some of the basic stuff.
Here are some tips to follow.
Remain vigilant to any suspicious emails from people you don’t know and or have questionable domain names. Odd subject lines are a red flag too. During these times, be on the lookout for anyone sending emails about selling products to diagnose, prevent and or treat Covid-19. Watch out for counterfeit sanitizing products and personal protective gear like masks and gloves. These are attempts at phishing! Be careful if and when giving out personal information.
As for your router and modem, it’s best to have a long and complicated WiFi password. Ah, the dreaded million passwords problem. Really, try not to reuse the same password on the web for all your accounts. If one of your accounts gets broken into, your other logins become highly vulnerable. Change your PW’s up if you can. You want to also be on the lookout for operating system updates (on all devices — computer, tablet, mobile). These need to be installed to plug any holes that might have been discovered by hackers.
Given all this extra time we have, we’re probably all over the web exploring new things. We should avoid free to access obscure website for sure. Pirating movies and TV shows is a big source of heavy malware attacks — even more so these days. Now’s not the time to go hunting for free movies and series on torrent sites. Buy a subscription for the content you are looking for (many of them actually free at the moment)!
For the tech savvy out there who really want to protect their online assets (and themselves), get a VPN. VPNs mask your IP address so your online activity is essentially untraceable. All in all they give you secure and encrypted connectivity to provide more privacy than available on simple WiFi.
Look, I know you know most of this stuff, but maybe some friends or family aren’t as on top of it. Perhaps tell them a thing or two about how to stay safe during this peculiar time and avoid those cyber viruses that are certainly out there looking to take advantage.
Your digital activity is important, protect it!
#CBSDigitalLiteracy
