A cyber pandemic: coming soon
The founder and CEO of cyber security firm Check Point has warned that the coronavirus pandemic could have a domino effect on the cyber security marketplace and that countries need to protect themselves against the coming ‘cyber pandemic.’
A cyber pandemic is coming
Speaking at “The New Tomorrow” summit (organised by the Israeli-American Council and the Peres Centre for Peace and Innovation that seeks to examine the new reality in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic) Check Point founder and CEO Gil Shwed said that:
“What happened in the last three months pushed forward five, maybe even 10 years of technological evolution,” he explained.
“More services moved online; companies removed barriers. We allowed developers to work just from within the company physically, so we could keep our intellectual property… In one day, we had to change all of that and allow people to access from home. This rapid change means hackers will find a way… The hackers can find a way to hack a personal computer of an employee and through them get into our Crown Jewels.”
Mr Shwed also noted that cyber security will change due to the pandemic and that businesses must stay protected “against the cyber pandemic that is coming”.
Coronavirus has caused a 400% increase in attempted attacks
At the beginning of April 2020, the National Cyber Security Centre reported that there had been an increasing number of malicious cyber attacks that aimed to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now it has been revealed by cyber security consultants, Naval Dome, that there has been a 400% increase in attempted hacks since February 2020.
Naval Dome claims that malware, ransomware, and phishing emails have all been used to exploit businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Global travel restrictions, social distancing measures and the economic recession have all been labelled as factors that have cut into many businesses’ cyber defence capabilities.
Is your business prepared?
Like COVID-19 like cyber threats can spread fast and cause businesses of all sizes great financial damage.
It is often the most common vulnerabilities that cyber hackers will exploit during this time. If your organisation is worried about being a target, it should be implementing Cyber Essentials key controls.
Officially backed by the UK Government, Cyber Essentials is a great solution for businesses looking to improve their cyber security settings and standing. By implementing five simple key controls, you can protect your business from up to 80% of common cyber security threats.
Find out more about our packages and get started with your Cyber Essentials certification.