Locks and Security News: your weekly locks and security industry newsletter
24th April 2024 Issue no. 702

Your industry news - first

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"The Covid-19 outbreak represents a ready-made situation for cyber criminals to socially engineer"

Mike Roberts, Managing Director, LegalShield UK: "Last week, 400 cybersecurity experts joined forces to prevent cyber-attacks on hospitals and essential services, spanning across 40 countries and including individuals from some of the most advanced technology companies in the world.

"We are in unprecedented times. Firms and consumers had little preparedness for this pandemic; within days we were all told to work from home, within a week we were unable to leave our homes other than for essential reasons. The Covid-19 outbreak represents a ready-made situation for cyber criminals to socially engineer.

According to Barracuda Networks, Covid-19 related phishing attacks are up by a huge 667% since the end of February, a truly stark awakening to the threat we are all under by the most opportune fraudsters."

"While groups such as the aforementioned are striving to protect the data of our essential services across the world, individuals are not only vulnerable but also disengaged as their priorities are, rightly, focused on the health and wellbeing on themselves, their friends and families. There are a number of steps that people can take to protect themselves against cyberattacks while they are at home such as ensuring you are using a secure network; if you are using your home network then strengthen your network by using a strong encryption password as well as a virtual private network (VPN).

"One of the most important things if you are hacked is to react quickly. For example, most banks and credit card companies have real time notification services that allow them to contact you in the event of a purchase attempt deemed unusual. Earlier this year we launched Privacy Defence an app that allows consumers to get ahead of theft and the inevitable fallout, with live notifications alerting people in real-time if their personal data is being hacked or compromised."

"We all need to remain vigilant against cyber fraud at all times; but we are currently in a time where criminals can take advantage of this unique situation in which we find ourselves. We are all responsible for not letting them." https://legalshield.co.uk

25th March 2020