Report: Cybersecurity Threats Rise as Working from Home Increases Due to COVID-19

Commerce Township-based Nuspire, a managed security services provider, released its latest Quarterly Threat Landscape Report, mapping cybercriminal activity and tactics, techniques, and procedures over the first quarter of 2020.
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work from home cybersecurity graphic
Nuspire’s latest report shows an increase in cybercriminal activity as more people worked from home during the first quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic. // Stock photo

Commerce Township-based Nuspire, a managed security services provider, released its latest Quarterly Threat Landscape Report, mapping cybercriminal activity and tactics, techniques, and procedures over the first quarter of 2020.

Overall, vulnerability exploitation increased over the quarter by 6.3 percent. Additionally, phishing attempts more than doubled over the last three months.

Mirroring changes in the remote workforce that were enacted during COVID-19, Nuspire researchers observed cybercriminals targeting known exploits in VPN, internet of things, and authentication technology.

“Cybercriminals are not above taking advantage of people during these unprecedented times,” says Lewie Dunsworth, CEO of Nuspire. “Unfortunately, current events provide cybercriminals with the perfect environment for malicious activity and exploiting users across the globe.

“No organization wants to fall victim to a cyberattack, but companies are being forced to quickly react to keep businesses operational and potentially creating risk for themselves as part of the process. While attention is focused on saving lives, connecting with others and keeping up business operations, we remain committed to helping our clients when they need us most.”

Nuspire witnessed an overall increase in malware activity – 7 percent – with several dramatic spikes throughout the quarter. Most notably, there was a 179 percent increase in activity from the quarterly low during the week of Jan. 24-31 as a result of the resurgence of reported phishing campaigns spreading Microsoft Word macro-based trojans.

The full report can be downloaded here.