3 Keys to Combat Hackers in Cybercrime Surge

Cyber attacks have spiked dramatically since the COVID-19 crisis began, leading to what some are calling a “cybercrime pandemic” as hackers capitalize on vulnerabilities inherent in a newly remote workforce. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is receiving between 3,000 to 4,000 new internet crime complaints each day, compared to an average 1,000 daily before the pandemic. Phishing scams alone have risen by 667 percent since March 1.

Cyber criminals target employees working from home, taking advantage of a lack of cybersecurity controls and expertise to gain access to employers’ data, through social engineering or any of a number of new tactics hackers have developed to exploit the current crisis.

“When you have a pandemic bubbling away in the background, a company’s focus is not necessarily going to be cyber risk management,” said Nathan Rose, Senior Underwriter and Business Development Specialist, Burns & Wilcox, Vancouver, British Columbia. “Companies transitioned from working in a controlled, contained environment to working remotely very quickly. That created problems from a risk management standpoint.

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