As the co-founder of a cyber security firm, it deeply troubles me to see active internet users taking cyber security so lightly. The large scale implications of it are hard hitting, but in my experience, its the smaller organizations that are the worst hit when faced with a cyber attack. They simply are not prepared to fight cyber crime of such magnitudes. The results are data loss and privacy breach, both of which can have serious consequences on the organization’s business.

Some of the popular misconceptions I realized when interacting with some of my clients at Trixter is “Oh! Its too technical for us”, “Why would a hacker hit a small company like ours”, “I have an Antivirus on all my systems, so I’m safe”.

Trust me, no one is SAFE from Cyber Attacks in today’s times.

As COVID-19 glooms over the entire world affecting businesses as is, cyber attackers have gotten their work eased out thanks to businesses adopting online tools to run its operations. We all know about the ZOOM Data leaks incident. There are tons of them out there. So I decided to pen this lightweight and simple to read for a layman kind of a post to help understand the most popular kind of attacks prevalent in the times of Coronavirus.

1. Malicious Domains

Cybercriminals are creating thousands of new sites using keywords like coronavirus, covid19, covid-19 every day to carry out spam campaigns, phishing or to spread malware.

2. Malware

Malware, spyware and Trojans have been found embedded in interactive coronavirus maps and websites. Spam emails are also tricking users into clicking on links which download malware to their computers or mobile devices.

3. Ransomware

Hospitals, medical centers and public institutions are being targeted by cybercriminals for ransomware attacks – since they are overwhelmed with the health crisis and cannot afford to be locked out of their systems, the criminals believe they are likely to pay the ransom.

The ransomware can enter their systems through emails containing infected links or attachments, compromised employee credentials, or by exploiting a vulnerability in the system.

Cybercrime is real and ever so growing in the digital times. At a personal level, there are simple yet important precautions that you MUST take to do your least bit & protect yourself and your organization.

If you missed this post, here’s a cyber security checklist for every business owner

While you’re at it, do follow my company – Trixter on Linkedin as we will be posting quite a few useful news and tips regarding the pressing issue of cyber attacks against SMEs in particular and businesses in general.

– Shaunak Mody, Co-founder at Trixter Cyber Solutions

Reference – Interpol’s Global Landscape on Covid-19 Cyber Threats

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