Top 5 Cybersecurity Threats Taking Advantage of COVID-19 Pandemic

We are talking about it and we will talk about it over and over again, the coviD19 pandemic clearly benefits cyber criminals.

The latter put in place several systems to take advantage of the different fears related to this disease. As a result, worldwide, there has been an upsurge in computer attacks on a very large scale.

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All the loopholes are an opportunity for them, not to mention telework which will weaken a little more the security of companies. In practice, 5 threats were observed as the most recurrent, using the concerns of people associated with the disease.

1- Fake emails from WHO and the Ministry of Health

Many people can testify, it is difficult to make a day without receiving an email or any correspondence from either the World Health Organization or the Ministry of Health. Since this pandemic broke out, phishing attempts have only multiplied. You have seen or will surely see a message inviting you to click on a link offering to give you more information about the disease and its evolution. It is literally not advisable to do that. It's clearly a trap

2- Fake Emails offering you financial support

In an outpouring of solidarity, several people were offered their services in order to best help vulnerable people during this pandemic. Individual donations and government aid measures are on the page. In this way, cyber criminals are also looking to take advantage of it. Especially with the unemployment of several thousand people. Various phishing strategies have been based on this kind of offer of assistance. So if you see a post where you receive an email that invites you to click on a link to receive a grant, it will be best not to act hastily. Take the trouble to find out about the procedure and the person behind it. In most cases, they are necessarily cyber-prisoners.

3- False phone calls and SMS promising to provide you with information about the evolution of the pandemic

Since this is the most common, there is a tendency to believe that cybercriminals are simply limited to the use of e-mails. However it is not uncommon for them to pass through conventional SMS and even phone calls. Potential victims at this level do exist. Many will be less suspicious when it is a phone call instead of an email. It proceeds by the same strategy.

Promise their targets information about the evolution of the pandemic. If they are not vigilant, their personal data will be put at great risk. Phone calls are often followed by text messages that contain links that are supposed to attract individuals to a fake site.

4- False websites for information on the coronavirus pandemic

Everybody's worried. We want to know exactly what is going on, how the disease is progressing, if it will end soon. This is the daily life of those confined today. In this way, many people regularly visit websites in order to have this information. The problem, several websites among those that are supposed to inform you are run by cyber criminals. Some of these websites simply collect information about you. That's why it's a good bet never to fill out fields of information when you're on this kind of website. In principle there is no use in wanting to find out about you. So avoid helping them. On the other side, there are websites that hide malware. As soon as you start the visit, you will be infected endangering your device and your personal data.

5- Fake mobile software for COVID-19 tracking

It's not just fake websites that have multiplied. Because applications have also experienced this malicious way of duplication. And hundreds of such applications are circulating on the web.In this way, as service users of this kind were always advised, to avoid downloading apps from official stores such as Google's Play Store and Apple's appstore. Because malicious applications like this are more intrusive and more dangerous than fake websites. 

In the face of these kinds of threats. Users need to be very careful. The ideal is always to verify the information through several sources. Never click at any time on any link that will be sent to you by email or text. To easily trust you.

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