Tag Archive for: pandemic

Mobile devices proved vulnerable during pandemic lockdowns

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According to Verizon, nearly half of businesses sacrificed mobile device security best practices to “get the job done.”

Mobile device security

Image: anyaberkut, Getty Images/iStockphoto

According to the Verizon Business Mobile Security Index 2021, the massive shift to remote work caused by the COVID-19 pandemic left many businesses knowingly vulnerable to attacks from employees’ mobile devices. Of the more than 850 businesses surveyed for the report, 40% said mobile devices are their company’s biggest IT security threat, yet 45% still sacrificed the security of mobile devices to enhance useability, meeting business needs or meeting project deadlines or productivity targets. 

Nearly one-in-four (24%) said mobile device security was sacrificed in response to restrictions put in place by the pandemic. And most IT departments (75%) succumbed to pressure from the business to lower the bar on device security.

“While businesses focused their efforts elsewhere, cybercriminals saw a wealth of new opportunities to strike,” Sampath Sowmyanarayan, chief revenue officer, Verizon Business, said in a statement. “With the rise of the remote workforce and the spike in mobile device usage, the threat landscape changed, which for organizations, means there is a greater need to hone in on mobile security to protect themselves and those they serve.”

Fewer companies reported mobile compromise

Even with lax security overall however, fewer companies reported a mobile device related compromise in 2020 compared to 2019, the report said. 

“This is the fourth year that Verizon has published this report,” the report said. “And this time the percentage of companies that admitted to having suffered a mobile-related security compromise is the lowest we’ve seen—just 23%. But hold the Champagne. Nearly one-in-four companies suffering a mobile device attack is not cause for celebration.”

Companies may not yet know they were compromised, and hackers, constantly upping their game by…

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Covid fraud: £34.5m stolen in pandemic scams – BBC News

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Covid fraud: £34.5m stolen in pandemic scams  BBC News

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Cyber crime was second pandemic last year :: WRAL.com

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By Cullen Browder, WRAL anchor/reporter

A new FBI report shows the coronavirus wasn’t all that was spreading like wildfire in 2020 – so was cyber crime.

For example, phishing scams. where criminals try to get bank or personal information via email, text or phone, more than doubled last year, with 241,000 complaints to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. Overall, complaints jumped 70 percent.

Cyber security expert Neal Bridges, an Air Force veteran who now works for computer networking company INE, said the jump in cyber crime in 2020 is concerning but not surprising.

“We don’t take cyber security seriously enough,” Bridges said. “It is very difficult to prosecute cyber criminals, and there’s a lot of return on investment from a monetary perspective.”

North Carolina accounted for more than 12,000 complaints to the FBI center, with people losing more than $69 million. Almost 2,500 people age 60 or older were victimized, paying out almost $28 million to criminals, according to the report.

“A lot of the tech fraud scams and some of the phishing attacks that are being targeted are targeting senior citizens,” Bridges said.

Cyber crimes are up nearly 1000%. Learn how to protect yourself, tonight at 5 on WRAL

Non-payment or non-delivery schemes, essentially a bogus online purchase, was the most common cyber crime in North Carolina, according to the FBI report. That was followed by personal data breaches, where hackers get identifying information about people, and confidence or romance scams, where people are asked to send money for a loved one or a potential lover.

“It’s OK to question if something doesn’t sound right, especially when it comes to your livelihood, your hard-earned money, whether it’s your retirement or your bank account, even your Social Security numbers,” Bridges said.

In addition to being more skeptical, Bridges suggested using multi-factor authentication so account entry isn’t so easy and frequently changing passwords, which are currency for cyber thieves.

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Pandemic Increases the Importance of Cyber Security

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TAMPA, Fla. — The pandemic has forced the entire world to rely heavily on their region’s transportation infrastructure — both the physical and virtual.

It’s increased the importance of cyber security as the world moves from offices to homes.

And the Tampa Bay area is not immune to these threats.

On February 8, an unknown hacker infiltrated Oldmar’s water treatment plant and made potentially dangerous changes to chemical levels in the water.

Now, the people who fight these threats are seeing seismic shifts in how the job is done.

Chris Grove is a Tampa Bay area resident and a Technology Evangelist for Nozomi Networks.

Nozomi Networks uses artificial intelligence to protect the security of critical infrastructure.

He’s been hooked on technology as long as he can remember, recalling his first encounter with Parker Bother’s Merlin, a 1978 handheld electronic game.

And it’s taken him around the world for the last decade, fighting cyber criminals, helping companies, and governments.

“So before Covid-19, I traveled between 100,000 to 200,00 miles a year, sometimes three continents in one week, sometimes all the way to Australia for a one-hour meeting,” said Grove. “Today my commute exists of the bedroom to the kitchen and then to my computer, which is a total of 50 feet.”

Grove and his “Road Warrior” counterparts have seen a rise in productivity as their heavy travel schedules turned into virtual sessions and remote work.

When regular international travel resumes, Grove says look for companies to send smaller groups on much fewer trips.

“I’m pretty sure that this is forever changed the landscape of business travel,” said Grove.

For the last year, Virginia Johnson has been talking to people about their life in the time of coronavirus.

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