William O’Connell, chief business security officer of ADP, kicks off National Cyber Security Awareness Month at the Organization of American States in October 2017. Today’s columnist, Stephen Burke of Cyber Risk Aware, offers eight ways companies can instill a more cyber aware culture to prevent serious breaches. (Credit: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Security breaches are at an all-time high in the COVID-19 era, the result of attackers taking advantage of widespread health fears and economic uncertainty. This has had devastating, costly implications, impacting hospitals and businesses of all sizes. Corporate systems have been targeted with ever-increasing frequency, but the attackers still exploit the same vulnerabilities:  unaware people and unpatched systems.

This past August, fraud examiners worldwide revealed increases in different types of fraud risks since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Some 47 percent reported a significant increase, and 36 percent reported a slight increase, that’s an 83 percent increase in global cyber fraud. During the first part of the pandemic, email scams related to COVID-19 reportedly increased in the triple-digits, and users were found to be three times more likely to click on a pandemic-related phishing email.

Please register to continue.

Already registered? Log in.

Create Free Account Log in to Existing Account

Once you register, you'll receive:

  • News analysis

    The context and insight you need to stay abreast of the most important developments in cybersecurity. CISO and practitioner perspectives; strategy and tactics; solutions and innovation; policy and regulation.

  • Archives

    Unlimited access to nearly 20 years of SC Media industry analysis and news-you-can-use.

  • Daily Newswire

    SC Media’s essential morning briefing for cybersecurity professionals.

  • Learning Express

    One-click access to our extensive program of virtual events, with convenient calendar reminders and ability to earn CISSP credits.