Page 113 - Cyber Defense eMagazine for July 2020

The Rise of COVID-19 Phishing Attacks: How Cyber

Adversaries Are Adopting Phishing to Generate New

Threat Vectors

By Brad Slavin, CEO of DuoCircle LLC

While COVID-19 has locked all people in their homes, with office premises closed, cyber adversaries
seem to have a field day using the pandemic as a launchpad for phishing attacks. Organizations and
individuals must be aware of the detective, preventive, and protective measures to safeguard their
information assets against these attacks.

As the COVID-19 pandemic assumes global proportions, it is natural for people to become anxious.
People naturally turn to the internet to acquire the latest information on the coronavirus related drugs,
vaccines, etc. At the same time, social engineering attacks have been on the rise as malicious actors
worldwide keep developing sophisticated tools and techniques to entice employees as well as individuals
to reveal sensitive and confidential information, such as personally identifiable information (PII), financial
data, or user account credentials. Let's dive deep into the gravity of the situation before discussing what
the best anti-phishing solutions and techniques are that organizations and individuals can make use of.

Some Hard Facts and Statistics on Phishing Attacks Based On COVID-19

Researchers reveal that cybercriminals are primarily employing three ingenious phishing attack
methodologies to target victims. They are brand impersonation, scamming, and business email
compromise (BEC). Here are a few spine-chilling statistics on COVID-19 phishing scams that have made
headlines around the world.

Cyber Defense eMagazine –July 2020 Edition 113
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