How the Coronavirus Could Change the IT And InfoSec Landscape?

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the lives of countless people worldwide. In addition to affecting the health of innumerable people and the business operations of numerous companies worldwide, the coronavirus is also impacting information security everywhere. Cybersecurity is at great risk due to malicious actors using the coronavirus scare to threaten the integrity of security frameworks in organizations all over the world. Several instances of phishing emails circulating among people have already emerged in the US and western Europe. The IT and information security (InfoSec) frameworks will have to change because of such threats.

Here are some ways in which the coronavirus outbreak could change the IT and InfoSec landscape.

Information security risks arising from phishing emails

The cybersphere has been battling with yet another onslaught of phishing emails being circulated by cybercriminals posing as government officials or medical practitioners claiming to provide crucial information related to the coronavirus outbreak. Playing on people’s fear, they can manage to get clicks on the malicious links they send out in such emails. The links then lead people to dangerous web portals where their confidential data including identity information may get stolen or their computer systems may get infected with viruses. Many of these links also have file- encrypting and crypto-mining malware shared in them. This makes it important for the IT and InfoSec departments in all organizations to elevate their risk discovery and prediction capabilities. This will help them appropriately flag all suspicious emails and links circulated by cybercriminals. At the same time, remediation procedures must also be upgraded to keep up with these new threats.

Remote working will add to cybersecurity risks

If your employees are working remotely due to the coronavirus scare in your region, IT risks are going to increase further. This is because their home or other local area networks are very likely to not be secured with the diligence that is necessary for the sensitive customer data handled by your company. IT and InfoSec experts must inform all employees who are working remotely about the steps they should take to increase the security of their home networks. The IT and InfoSec departments must also improve their data encryption capabilities and Virtual Private Network firewalls.

Training programs will have to be amended

IT and InfoSec departments in all organizations should upgrade their current security training modules to include detailed risk and remediation points about phishing emails being used to manipulate scared and panicked employees. Employees should be informed about the harmful content that may be coming their way and that they should not click on any suspicious links. They must be asked to report any known malicious email IDs as ‘phishing.’ Moreover, employees

working remotely must be trained on how to keep the company data more secure.

Conclusion

As new kinds of cybersecurity risks arise due to the coronavirus outbreak, the IT and InfoSec landscape is bound to change. We must be prepared to adequately address any new threats that

cybercriminals invent in these times.

2 Comments

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    October 16, 2024 at 2:07 pm
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  2. Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!

    October 30, 2024 at 11:29 am
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