Distrust anything Covid-19 related that you receive from outside your trusted parameter, warns cybersecurity expert Brian Pinnock.
Cybercriminals are not letting the Covid-19 disaster go to waste.
It’s not your imagination – we’re all getting more spam (unsolicited messages usually sent to advertise or to gain personal information), malware (software that designed to damage your computer, or to gain access to it) and other digital communication trying to compromise our security.
There have been massive spikes in cyberattacks across sub-Saharan Africa in the first quarter of 2020, according to a new report by cloud-based email management firm Mimecast.
Some findings of the Mimecast report (Q1/2020):
- Spam is up 46%
- Impersonation is up 75%
- Malware is up 385%
- Unsafe clicks by users are up 97%
Mimecast has detected 115 000 fake Covid-19 websites designed to steal personal information during the three-month period.
Refilwe Moloto interviewed Brian Pinnock, a cybersecurity expert at Mimecast.
They discussed the report and how cyberattacks related to Covid-19 is surging in tandem with the deadly coronavirus.
Most organisations weren’t geared up to work from home at scale… employees are more vulnerable to social engineering during lockdown… There’s an overall increase in threat-actors trying to attack people while they’re at home – we’ve got the numbers to show that.
Brian Pinnock, cybersecurity expert – Mimecast
Your IT department can still do some things for you… There’s been a 97% increase of unsafe link clicks in South Africa. Companies who use Mimecast cybersecurity awareness training are five times less likely to click on unsafe links…
Brian Pinnock, cybersecurity expert – Mimecast
Make sure your home Wi-Fi password is strong. Never trust anything Covid-19 related that you receive from outside your trusted parameter. Double check any link that you get… Type in the links of things such as your bank… your bank will not send you links…
Brian Pinnock, cybersecurity expert – Mimecast
Don’t necessarily trust the apps… There’s one pretending to be the Johns Hopkins Covid-19 map… We call them watering hole attacks – fake sites that look like legitimate ones…
Brian Pinnock, cybersecurity expert – Mimecast
How much sewerage are you prepared to tolerate in your drinking water? … Some organisations, because of costs, must rely on basic tools that don’t pick everything up.
Brian Pinnock, cybersecurity expert – Mimecast
Sometimes fake news comes with real malware.
Brian Pinnock, cybersecurity expert – Mimecast
Listen to the interview in the audio at capetalk.co.za
Source: Cape Talk, Mimecast
