The U.S. NCSC has been tracking phishing emails over the past few weeks and extent of messages directed at U.S. consumers and businesses are in the millions. NCSC has demonstrated the extent of the problem. What is clear is that cyber-criminals will continue to jump on the concerns around COVID-19 in order to seek to exploit the situation.
Looking at the issue, Ed Macnair, CEO of Censornet states: “Although it is positive to see people being vigilant against spam and phishing attacks, these figures from the NCSC demonstrate the extent of the problem.”
Expanding on this thought, Macnair says: “Cyber criminals will continue to capitalise on the hysteria surrounding COVID-19 to exploit both organisations and individuals, preying on their curiosity and vulnerability. Despite the success of this Suspicious Email Reporting Service, there are still social engineering attacks that will continue to slip through the net due to human error.”
In terms of what needs to be done, Macnair recommends: “It is crucial that organisations take it upon themselves to protect employees from these email attacks in the first instance. Businesses need to use email security that combines algorithmic analysis, threat intelligence and executive name checking to efficiently protect themselves against these evolving attacks.”
