When a crisis occurs there are so many lessons that people learn, so many things intertwined with each other twirling in confusion, desperation, and on top of that, a chance for exploitation in terms of dissecting vulnerability from the situation. The same has happened with the Covid-19 Pandemic, there is more confusion in all corners of the world than there is peace; the idea of working together to beat this thing is slipping from hands like dry sand. This crisis has threatened the health and social integrity of people from around the world, it has also affected the economic, political, and criminal situation around the world.
Much of these exploitations are governed by cybercriminals and hackers, trying their best to level up with the situation and gain serious insight into available vulnerabilities to further progress their cause. As organizations are trying their best to virtualize their workers so they can work from homes, the security conditions are far from being optimum. This is what hackers make exemplary use of, they steal data, personal information, credentials as well as other things that come along with it.
The Covid-19 has long terms effects on cybersecurity, but we will be working on three main areas of exploitation and how people who have something to gain from the situation are hurling into this arena;
There are three major areas of exploitation or potential targets of illicit people if you must during the Coronavirus Pandemic;
Political exploitation
These are only analysis, arrows shot into the dark but not necessarily, either some of the findings that are going to be discussed here are happening around the world or is going to happen shortly. It is just a matter of time. The most terrible hit is going to affect power plants, petrochemical industry as well as other critical infrastructure, this is likely to arouse confusion among political parties and people serving the government.
The health industry and other human services oriented departments have been blown the worst, it is crippling anarchy which can't serve a whole lot of people than it used to serve earlier before the Covid-19.
The confusion has started to surface and affect a whole lot of people, cities, and states in the US, pointing to the news that a nationwide quarantine is in effect but in reality, there is only a smart lockdown happening. US government has quickly denied such news from the get-go to avoid panic and disturbance among people and support the failing economy. Many states have been reported on leading the convoy on spreading disturbing news, out of these the most prominent is the state of Texas, New York, Florida, Washington, Ohio, and North Carolina.
Criminal Exploitation
The most to gain out of this currently evolving Pandemic are the cybercriminals and hackers. According to a survey, the new domain or website registration has increased to almost 50% but all of these are being inaugurated by cybercriminals or hackers for their malicious and phishing bent campaigns. Many people would fall victim to such acts of disruption staged in such a way that it looks helping or convenient for a particular group of people. Out of the more alarming labels "the coronavirus", "low-interest rates", "stock market volatility" or "remote working from the comfort of your home" are some of the most outstretched tries on luring innocent people down the digital cyber hole.
Out of the most hit are the paramedical or health-related departments as hackers try to use their finest phishing or social engineering skills to retrieve all information from the victims. The main thing is that these criminals know where the vulnerability within the system does exist, but more importantly, they have training on how to best exploit it.
Such phishing related practices are not confined to a particular node or way of advertisement, today these criminals have grown so strong that they can eventually target anyone by masking any particular brand to look more appealing or authentic by their targets. It isn't the general lack of knowledge about hacking or other practices by the general people that offset such criminal behavior but hackers desire to sound, look, or demonstrate themselves in a much authentic way.
Strategic exploitation
There is nothing like a well thought out plan or a revised strategy to take the win to your home. If you have thought something through, did your research, and are ready to take action where required then you can achieve almost any goal. While most of the attacks would be in action when this Pandemic reaches its peak, some of these cybercriminals will use a more direct and sophisticated approach. They will be targeting specific platforms, organizations, or businesses that are already adversely affected by the Covid-19 wave and have their guard relatively down.
Insertions of malware, installation of payload, or using other similar attack vectors are some of the most tempting ways a hacker can target an organization and then exploit it in a later future whenever they want.
What needs to be done?
There is no questioning that this Pandemic will continue to increase the cyber threats around the world and hackers will continue to exploit whatever corners where the vulnerability exists. But it could end up in bringing a learning opportunity for the world, for the organizations or the companies that are out there battling the phishing or other variety of attacks as stages by the cybercriminals.
Therefore, in the afterglow of the situation when there is a deceleration of the situation organizations and businesses can come around relative guidelines or important checkpoints to make sure that the same situation doesn't resurface in the future.
Or even if it does then you will have plenty of ammunition and a serious road map to tread on for taking necessary steps to ensure security. The situation nonetheless is not optimum, to begin with, and there is a lot of ground to cover but the best way to beat these exploitations is to take all the power back from the fears, desires, or tricks that linger along with the situation.
You can indulge yourself or your employees in secure coding training to have a clear insight on how to get better at what you do and ensure security via understanding the fundamentals of the cybersecurity.