It’s time to face the facts.
While cyber attacks are nothing new, thanks to COVID-19, the threat is more real than ever.
It’s common practice for cybercriminals to prey on society in times of crisis. A brief reflection on the security breaches of the 2008-2009 Financial Crisis makes this immediately apparent.
The global impact of coronavirus, as well as its implications, such as quarantine measures, a remote workforce, and the length of the pandemic, have led to attacks that are more aggressive than ever.
According to Forbes, the largest cyber attack in history is predicted to occur in the next six months.
The entire organization, including the c-suite and board of directors, need to have cyber top of mind. As shared by Kaley Childs Karaffa, Director of Board Engagement at Nasdaq, “Cyber is a full board issue for every organization.”
Consider this fact: In the next month, nearly half of businesses expect to experience a data or cyber breach.
That’s one in two companies. Will it be you, or your competitor?
The good news is, there are simple, cost-effective steps to protect yourself from cyber attack, especially when working from home.
To understand the threats related to your business, this article covers the following statistics related to cybercrime and COVID-19:
- The increased cyber attacks due to COVID-19
- Cyber security and the finance industry
- The impact of remote work on cyber security
- COVID-19 phishing and domain name scams
- Cyber attacks preying on the wants, needs, and fears of coronavirus
Bookmark this page for the latest updates in cyber security related to COVID-19.
Then, download your free cyber security checklist for action items to ensure cyber protection.
The Top 40 COVID-19 Cyber Security Statistics
As demonstrated by the cyber statistics outlined here, COVID 19’s impact on businesses and technology can’t be ignored.
With recent targets ranging from hospitals to private equity firms, every industry is at risk.
Statistics proving increased in cyber attacks due to COVID-19
- In the next month, 49% of businesses expect to experience a data breach or cyber security incident due to a remote workforce (Source: Barracuda)
- Almost half (46%) of global businesses have faced at least one cyber security threat. (Source: Dark Reading)
- As of May 2nd, the FBI Reported a 300% increase in reported cyber crimes (Source: IMC Grupo)
- As of March 28, the number of cyber attacks related to coronavirus grew from a few hundred daily to over 5,000 in one day alone. (Source: The Next Web)
- 71% of security professionals report increased security threats or attacks since the COVID-19 outbreak. (Source: TechRepublic)
- Coronavirus may be the largest-ever global security threat (Source: Reed Smith)
- In March, there was a 30,000% increase in COVID-19 related attacks and malware (Source: Zscaler)
- Phishing is up 600% and online threats are six times higher than usual (Source: WPXI)
- On a daily basis, the COVID-19 Cyber Threat Coalition receives approximately one hundred million indicators of cyber compromise (Source: Search Security)
- Ransomware attacks increased 148% in March 2020
- There are approximately one hundred million daily indicators of cyber compromise received by the COVID-19 Cyber Threat Coalition. (Source: Search Security)
- Spikes in cyber attacks have a direct correlation with pivotal days in the coronavirus pandemic. For example, on January 30th, the day the United States declared its first case of COVID-19, cyber attacks went up 48%. (Source: Computer Weekly)
Cyber security and the finance industry: Threats and market impact
- A 238% increase in cyber attacks against banks is linked to COVID-19 (Source: ZD Net)
- According to the data of software company VMware, 52% of all cyber attacks in March 2020 were finance-related
- In April 2020, The Florentine Banker, a cybercrime gang, tricked three British Private Equity firms into sending them $1.3 M (Source: The Hacker News)
- In March 2020, the Kryptik trojan accounted for over 70% of cyber attacks targeting the finance industry
- The market size of the global cyber security market is predicted to grow to $230.0 billion by 2021, up from $183.2 billion in 2019 (Source: CISO Mag)
- From February to March, 2020, cyber attacks against financial institutions increased by 38% (Source: Computer Weekly)
- To date, in 2020 Venture Capitalists have invested $1.9 billion in cyber security across 109 deals. (Source: Pitchbook)
Cyber security and remote work during the coronavirus pandemic
- Only 41% of cyber security professionals said their companies are utilizing best practices to ensure a secure remote workforce (Source: Security Magazine)
- 95% of IT professionals report additional challenges around security as a result of COVID-19 (TechRepublic)
- 51% of companies experienced more phishing attacks due to employees working remotely (Source: Barracuda)
- A remote workforce that sources and utilizes untested tools and services leads to increased challenges for 47% of IT professionals
- Due to COVID-19, almost half of cyber security professionals, 47%, have been reassigned to IT tasks (Source: ISC 2)
- 32% say the biggest threat is fraudulent websites claiming to offer resources on COVID-19 (Source: TechRepublic)
Increased email (phishing) and domain scams related to COVID-19
- In April 2020, on a daily basis, Google blocked more than 18 million phishing emails related to COVID-19 (Source: BBC News)
- 55% of IT professionals cite phishing attacks as the top threat during the pandemic (Source: TechRepublic)
- In March 2020, phishing attacks related to coronavirus went up 667% from the previous month (Source: Pitchbook)
- The Suspicious Email Reporting Service, set up by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, receive 10,000 reports in one day, which resulted in the shut down of 300 websites. (Source: Yahoo News)
- In 2020, over 86,600 newly observed hostnames (NOH) were published with keywords related to COVID-19, and were found to be high-risk or malicious. (Source: Palo Alto’s Unit 42)
- The week of April 16th, 2020, every day Google saw over 240 million spam emails related to coronavirus (Source: Google Cloud)
- The COVID-19 Cyber Threat Coalition has seen as 5,000 new COVID-19 and coronavirus domains a day (Source: Search Security)
- Of the risky or malicious domains published in relation to COVID-19, 80% were hosted on Amazon Web Services. (Source: Palo Alto)
- In the first 100 days since the outbreak of coronavirus, impersonation attacks related to COVID-19 grew 30% (Source: Dark Reading)
- The COVID-19 Cyber Threat Coalition, made up of over 4,000 volunteers and growing, has a blocklist which currently contains over 26,000 malicious URLs, domains, and hostnames (Source: Search Security)
Cyber threats preying on coronavirus wants, needs, and fears
- In one month, over 2,000 COVID-related scams were taken down in the UK. (Source: ZDNet)
- As of March 13, 2020, the FTC has sent 13 letters to VoIP service providers and other companies helping illegal telemarketers and robocallers complete COVID-19 fraudulent calls. (Source: FTC Consumer Information)
- In the UK, 471 fake online shops selling fraudulent items related to COVID-19 were taken down (Source: BBC)
- A ransom attack on the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District in Illinois left the website down for days, and cost a ransom payout of $300,000 through cyber insurance, with a $10,000 deductible. (Source: PEW
- Since the CARES Act was signed into law, an email security firm found 645 potentially fraudulent domains related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) (Source: Business Insider)
- With over 2 Million video views on YouTube and Instagram, a California man who falsely claimed to have a cure for COVID-19 promised investors returns of $200 – $300M. (Source: NBC Los Angeles)
Cyber protection during COVID-19
For additional guidance in securing your business against cyber threat, contact Performance Improvement Partners today. With risk assessments, employee workshops, and additional cyber security services, free cyber consultations, we’re here to keep you and your business safe from attack.
For our partners in Private Equity companies and their portfolios, learn how to protect your investment with a complimentary cyber security workshop.
