CYBER SECURITY TO FLOURISH POST- PANDEMIC

The author of this news feed is Vishakha Pandey, lawyer and Kamla Nehru Institute of Physical and social sciences ( law faculty), Sultanpur.

Cyber Security to flourish Post- Pandemic

The ongoing worldwide outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, continues to grab headlines. As of mid-February 2020, more than 70,000 cases had been confirmed. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, and health authorities continue to work to contain the spread of the disease.

With the growing health problems globally, quarantine is practiced in several countries. Because of which “Work from Home” is under prevalence which is leading to cybercrime in the IT- sector. To contain novel coronavirus, the lockdown has been declared and since everyone is at home therefore, the use of social media is inclined. This increased interconnectedness heightens the risk of a Cyber Crime.

The National Cyber Security Agency recorded an increase in the number of cyberattacks on personal computer networks and routers since professionals were asked to work from home in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In) elucidates that with the outbreak of COVID-19 cybercriminals are exploiting and took it as an opportunity to send phishing emails claiming to have important updates or encouraging donations, impersonating trustworthy organizations. 

According to the study recorded by, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ the number of Cyberattacks on Indian Companies has doubled, as cybercriminals use the disruption brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak to infiltrate corporate networks and steal data team. The PWC analyst observed several attempts of delivering malicious payloads including those related to the COVID- 19 theme. The major threat vector in India was AZORult – malware designed to steal information including credentials. This malware has been in existence over three years but was recently linked with malicious files and apps belonging to the COVID-19 theme.

The CERT put forward countermeasure and best security practices in this context which is as elucidated in the following manner: -

•           To Change default passwords of your home Wi-Fi router to prevent hackers from accessing your network.

•           Use strong and unique passwords on every account and device and use two- factor authentication (2FA).

•           It suggests not allowing sharing of work computers and other devices. When employees bring work devices home, those devices should not be shared with or used by anyone else in the home. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access to protect company information.

•           It urges to use only company software to share files and refrain from using your email or 3rd part services unless reliably informed.

•           The advisory recommended that remote uses activity is also covered by the organization’s perimeter and also ensures that the remote sessions automatically time out after the specified period of inactivity and that they require re-authentication to gain access.

•           It gave a specific suggestion for IT teams to “consider Mobile Device Management (MAM) and Mobile Application Management (MAM)”. These tools can allow organizations to remotely implement a number of security measures, including data encryption, malware scans and wiping data on stolen devices.

In order to fortify the conundrum of cybercrimes during and post lockdown it is crucial to access any cyber data vigilantly to combat cyber attacking like Phishing and hacking and is also mandated to fortify the security of the country’s internet domain.

REFERENCES

•           https://www.csoonline.com/article/3528878/a-security-guide-for-pandemic-planning-7-key-steps.html

•           https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/covid-19-cert-in-says-spurt-in-cyberattacks-on-personal-comps-since-work-from-home-protocol-began/articleshow/74849119.cms?from=mdr

•           https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/hackers-are-using-covid-19-disruption-to-infiltrate-corporate-networks/articleshow/74837213.cms

•           https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/on-demand-webcast-crowdstrike-experts-on-covid-19-cybersecurity-challenges-and-recommendations/