The health and economic crises caused by novel COVID-19 pandemic are now compounded by increased cyber security risks, according to a new report published on Friday 27 March by Europol. Criminals are now primarily online and have quickly figured out how to exploit the crisis for new criminal activities.
According to the report, the number of cyberattacks that have taken place during the crisis is high and is expected to increase further, given the growing number of employers introducing telework and allowing connections to their organisations’ systems.
Attacks sometimes go as far as targeting hospitals (see EUROPE 12455/13), such as the one that hit the University Hospital in Brno, Czech Republic, forcing the hospital to postpone urgent surgery and redirect new acute patients to a neighbouring hospital, warns Europol.
Fraud patterns are also likely to change. While criminals have so far continued to use traditional fraud schemes adapted to the pandemic, such as scams involving investment in shares linked to the development of COVID-19 or scams offering home decontamination, Europol expects new fraud schemes to be put in place rapidly in an attempt to take greater advantage of the fears of European citizens.
Unsurprisingly, sales of counterfeit protective equipment and pharmaceuticals have soared since the beginning of the crisis, both online and offline. More than 34,000 counterfeit surgical masks were seized between 3 and 10 March 2020 by law enforcement authorities around the world as part of Operation Pangea supported by Europol, the report says.
Some developments, such as the distribution of fake home testing kits, are particularly worrying from a public health perspective, he says.
Europol has also observed an increase in searches for child pornography online since the beginning of the crisis, as well as an increase in messages on forums aimed at children, whom sexual predators expect to be more vulnerable due to containment measures, less parental supervision in some cases and, above all, greater online exposure.
See report: https://bit/ly/2xvyDYW (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)