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Coronavirus: The Fifth Horsemen of The Cyber Apocalypse

Let’s be honest, fighting hackers is the last thing that comes to mind of most people when they think about the coronavirus. There’s been too much going on in the last couple of months. But what if we told you that the biggest cyber attack in history could happen in the next six months.

The hackers are coming

“Coronavirus has destroyed the virtual protection of each company and built a foundation for a massive cyberattack,” said Stephen McBride, chief analyst at RiskHedge. Before a pandemic, remote employees were usually given laptops with enhanced protection.  They had to follow strict instructions that made hacking more difficult. For example, using a separate secure Wi-Fi connection and a USB security key to access sensitive files.

None of the companies were fully prepared for the total transition to remote work. Imagine the scale of opportunities for hackers with hundreds of millions of people working from home. The vast majority of employees probably never got a work laptop, so they have to use personal laptops connected to the home Internet. Many of the companies’ files contain sensitive information and personal data – a dream to every cybercriminal. Minimal effort, maximum benefit. All you have to do is access a single entry point to take control of an entire network.

You shouldn’t live under the illusion that your company won’t be affected. Just think of the corporate giants that have been hacked in the recent past, and imagine how much they spend on security! The human factor plays almost a key role in cybercriminals’ success. Recently, the GitLab platform did a security check, analyzing how much remote workers are resilient to phishing attacks. As it turned out, one in five employees agreed to enter their login credentials on a fake login page!

The cyber intelligence of CYFIRMA revealed that cyber threats associated with coronavirus have increased by 600% between February and March. So it’s only a matter of time before we hear about another serious cyber incident. But while some people are desperate, others are making money betting on the stock growth of cyber companies.

Source: Forbes

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