How to deal with cyber security issues as
the world shifts to remote working?

As the world adjusts to the work-from-home culture, companies and businesses are facing a new challenge in the form of cyber attacks and ransomware. Cybersecurity expert Col. Inderjeet Singh explains different types of cyberattacks and tools to prevent cyberattacks. He claimed that ‘Phishing e-mail’ is the most common method being used by the hackers to drop malware payloads in mailboxes and make them fall prey to these scams.

New Delhi: With businesses operating indoors, there is an increased risk of security breaches and threats which can lead to loss of data, breaches of privacy or holding systems to ransom, and more. Cybersecurity expert Col. Inderjeet Singh details different types of cyberattacks and how to prevent them.

Companies shifted to remote working

When COVID-19 began to spread, it was a circumstance in which no one in the business was prepared. Everyone was obliged to relocate their businesses from offices to their houses. Most SMEs and bigger businesses, on the other hand, have never put their business continuity plans and risk management to this level of scrutiny. No one was ever prepared to make the switch and manage their businesses from their homes the way they do now.

How to deal with cyber security issues during the coronavirus pandemic?

In addition to business operations, firms had a greater problem in maintaining business continuity with third-party suppliers. Employee attendance was a major concern, as was developing a pleasant work environment, which was essential. There were insufficient restrictions for those who worked from home, as well as the risks of business data breaches and data protection.

With these problems in strategically altering company operations, business owners did the best they could while putting the health of their people first and enduring a significant impact to business operations. It provided most businesses the chance to demonstrate their business continuity and risk management plans. This pandemic provided a chance to develop and implement a disaster recovery strategy, as well as an incident response plan and cyber resiliency. As a result, businesses must carefully coordinate their operations to accommodate workers who now work from home.

Cyberattacks on the rise since the start of the coronavirus outbreak

As the coronavirus expanded, so did the number of cyberattacks, according to Inderjeet. Hackers took advantage of the situation and began targeting every industry. Healthcare has evolved as one of the most important industries that rely on IT Services. Cyber assaults in the healthcare industry have risen by a factor of ten, and it will be a new IT sector in the future. While most pharmaceutical firms are developing and testing a Coronavirus vaccine, hackers and nation-state actors are attempting to hack into current vaccination trials using spear-phishing assaults, malware, ransomware, and advanced persistent threats (APTs). It’s become critical to safeguard and defend healthcare and pharmaceutical production plants from growing cyberattacks in ways we never considered before.

Cyber threats in the Banking industry

Banking is another industry that is more vulnerable to cyberattacks, as we all know. Cyberattacks in the financial industry have gotten significantly more active during this epidemic. Hackers have been using malware to obtain access to financial institutions. As the coronavirus spread from China to other nations, hackers shifted the topic of their assaults. When hackers migrated to Europe or the United States, they used different themes than when they attacked financial institutions in India. When everyone is hurting physically and psychologically due to the epidemic, the hackers are highly astute in what they are doing.

Critical infrastructure cyberattacks are a greater concern than enterprise data breaches

Furthermore, we have observed an increase in assaults on key infrastructures, such as the power grid, water facilities, oil and gas plants, and telecom networks, and safeguarding these networks has become more difficult. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, most employees are unable to monitor critical infrastructure around the clock as they once did, and because most employees work from home, hackers and nation-state actors are taking advantage of this opportunity to launch cyberattacks against critical information infrastructure. From a national security standpoint, protecting these essential infrastructures from cyberattacks is critical.

What is Phishing e-mail?

Hackers most commonly employ phishing e-mail to deliver malware payloads to users’ mailboxes, causing them to fall prey to these frauds. In the previous few months, the number of phishing emails has surged by about 600 per cent. For example, if someone receives an email from WHO with the attachment of Coronavirus dos and don’ts, the user would undoubtedly fall prey to this trap and will download, which is where the trouble begins. When someone clicks on a strange link in an email or opens an attachment, it either redirects them to a suspicious link where they can be robbed of their credentials or executes malware on their laptop or PC, stealing or encrypting their data.

Surprisingly, during the months of February and March, more than one lakh domains associated with coronavirus appeared, but not all of them were suspect. Many of them were nasty and were used to defraud individuals. So, what exactly do you need to accomplish?

Some of the cybersecurity tips/cybersecurity prevention plans to be followed are:

Also read: Cyber cell sounds alert after rising in online frauds in Kashmir