The Impact of Covid-19 on Cybersecurity

Author: David Smith


The COVID-19 outbreak has forced organizations, schools, and workplaces to shift their operations online and work remotely to minimize contact with each other. Governments all over the world are working on developing new plans to ensure that the economic and health conditions stay afloat. Amidst this crisis cybercriminals around the world are taking advantage of the situation and exploiting the system vulnerabilities to gain advantage in systems that are already weak due to the crisis. Let’s have a look at some effects of COVID-19.


The Surge in Phishing and Ransomware Attacks

With the increase in the use of digital technology there has been an increase in phishing and malware attacks. Cybercriminals are using the virus as a bait to trick people into thinking that they are speaking on behalf of the brand. It is not only businesses that are getting affected by COVID-19 related scams, but even people are being tricked into downloading applications which are infected with ransomware. Some credit card companies are also not able to maintain the security of their systems resulting in online theft. Companies should take suitable measures to ensure that their employees don’t open any suspicious links or download documents which are coming from unknown sources under the subject of COVID-19.



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The COVID-19 outbreak has forced organizations, schools, and workplaces to shift their operations online and work remotely to minimize contact with each other. Governments all over the world are working on developing new plans to ensure that the economic and health conditions stay afloat. Amidst this crisis cybercriminals around the world are taking advantage of the situation and exploiting the system vulnerabilities to gain advantage in systems that are already weak due to the crisis. Let’s have a look at some effects of COVID-19.


The Surge in Phishing and Ransomware Attacks

With the increase in the use of digital technology there has been an increase in phishing and malware attacks. Cybercriminals are using the virus as a bait to trick people into thinking that they are speaking on behalf of the brand. It is not only businesses that are getting affected by COVID-19 related scams, but even people are being tricked into downloading applications which are infected with ransomware. Some credit card companies are also not able to maintain the security of their systems resulting in online theft. Companies should take suitable measures to ensure that their employees don’t open any suspicious links or download documents which are coming from unknown sources under the subject of COVID-19.



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Cybercriminals on the Rise

Due to the pandemic, a lot of companies have lost business and as a result, they are downsizing their companies to cope with the impact of the virus. A lot of people have unfortunately lost their jobs which has made them turn towards illegal means of livelihood such as cybercrime. Organizations should devise proper strategies when they are considering mass lay-offs. They should develop exit plans for their employees and give them enough cushion so that they do not involve themselves in criminal activities. Moreover, employees should take this time to build their skill set and take up online courses which would help them get better jobs in the future.

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Business Plans to Incorporate COVID-19

Business continuity plans are part of many organizations, however, very few include a contingency plan regarding a pandemic as big as the COVID-19. The recent global pandemic is a lesson for businesses to develop a plan which includes risk response plans to deal with a global calamity of this level. Organizations must work on revising their current strategies to ensure that the plan is rigorously followed in case of an emergency such as the current one.


Post COVID-19 Business Atmosphere

The COVID-19 pandemic has businesses to suffer all around the world. The entire world is going through a global recession. Companies downsizing their employees is only one effect of the pandemic that we are seeing. The long-term effects can be quite sinister and affect the economy for the years to come. A lot of businesses are minimizing business operations by cutting down on operations that they might feel are not as important resulting in laying off employees from those departments.

This may seem like a good short-term strategy but it may prove to be inefficient if you see it from a bigger perspective. Organizations should work on long-term plans instead of taking out shortcuts that will only be able to sustain them for a short period.

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