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- Trend snippet: A sharp increase in cybercrime offences related to the COVID-19 pandemic
Trends in Security Information
The HSD Trendmonitor is designed to provide access to relevant content on various subjects in the safety and security domain, to identify relevant developments and to connect knowledge and organisations. The safety and security domain encompasses a vast number of subjects. Four relevant taxonomies (type of threat or opportunity, victim, source of threat and domain of application) have been constructed in order to visualize all of these subjects. The taxonomies and related category descriptions have been carefully composed according to other taxonomies, European and international standards and our own expertise.
In order to identify safety and security related trends, relevant reports and HSD news articles are continuously scanned, analysed and classified by hand according to the four taxonomies. This results in a wide array of observations, which we call ‘Trend Snippets’. Multiple Trend Snippets combined can provide insights into safety and security trends. The size of the circles shows the relative weight of the topic, the filters can be used to further select the most relevant content for you. If you have an addition, question or remark, drop us a line at info@securitydelta.nl.
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A sharp increase in cybercrime offences related to the COVID-19 pandemic
Cybercriminals have been very quick in devising modi operandi and tools to exploit the current crisis. New and adapted attacks appeared almost immediately from the onset of the crisis and have been among the most visible types of criminality during the COVID-19 pandemic. In part, this is due to our reliance on digital and online solutions during the lockdown to work remotely and maintain contacts with colleagues, friends and family. During the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, law enforcement authorities across the EU noted a sharp increase in cybercrime offences related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lockdown and quarantine measures introduced during the pandemic have significantly enlarged the attack surface and the attack vectors open to cybercriminals, as both private citizens and businesses are using digital and online solutions more than ever to arrange all aspects of their lives and activities. Changes in lifestyle that have emerged during the pandemic, such as extended teleworking, widespread online shopping and other behaviours are unlikely to disappear after the end of the lockdown. Cybercriminals will continue to seek opportunities to exploit these habits by adapting existing or devising new attacks.
Cybercrime threats are likely to continue to be the dominant threats from serious and organised crime during the pandemic as continued lockdown and social distancing measures will only enhance the reliance on digital services to continue to work and interact. However, the current focus on the distribution of malware and ransomware on targeting particularly affected sectors such as healthcare and education may shift back to attempts to exploit regular businesses as they reopen either physically or continue expanding their business online.