Pandemic-Inspired Fear Boosting Cyberattack Successes

Fear during the pandemic has led to a spike in online security concerns, said Olli Bliss, F-Secure business development manager, on a Parks Associates webinar. If an employee receives an email with COVID-19 information from what appears to be her employer, "you’re probably going to open up that spreadsheet,” he said Thursday: Local authorities are mass-texting citizens, leading to opportunities for phishing scams. “People lower their guard a little bit because they’re overwhelmed with fear," the cybersecurity expert said. "They’re prone to click things.” Cybercriminals are taking advantage, impersonating personnel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sending phishing emails for charitable donations and making bogus test and vaccination offers, said Parks analyst Brad Russell. In the past year, about 5% of U.S. broadband households have experienced identity theft -- some 5.5 million households. ID theft tops the list of cybersecurity concerns among U.S. broadband households, said Russell.