Faizel Patel – 08/03/2021
Check Point Software Technologies says that with many people working from home during COVID-19, the exposure environment for hackers has increased to beyond the corporate environment.
This comes after a new report revealed that hackers and criminals last year exploited the Coronavirus pandemic to target all business sectors and highlights the key tactics used, from cloud exploits to phishing and ransomware.
The world currently faces over a hundred thousand malicious websites and ten thousand malicious files daily.
Check Point Research, the Threat Intelligence of Check Point Software Technologies, a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally has published its 2021 security report.
Speaking to Radio Islam, regional director Pankaj Bhula says hackers have found ways to exploit people working from home during the pandemic, especially with many using public WIFI and unsecured internet connections.
“It’s not going to stop. The stats were that before COVID, the industry was three billion odd in terms of vulnerability or exposure. Africa in the last year has experienced three times more than our global counterparts.”
Bhula says the stats also show that 80% of companies have had an exploit compared to what they’ve had before.
“There’s one alarming stat that says almost half of people or individuals that downloaded some sort of app last year, COVID or un-COVID related were exploited.”
Bhula says that even vaccines websites have been exposed with more than three hundred globally that have been set up that are malicious.
“So what you going to have is more and more people receiving emails from untrusted sources convincing them to click on a link that takes them to a site there says this is where you can register for a vaccine or this is where you can register for a relief package. Meanwhile that website is not an authorised one.”
The report also reveals the increased use of mobiles during global lockdowns has also driven growth in banking and information-stealing mobile Trojans.
Listen to the interview with Pankaj Bhula
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