Editorial

Cyber crime on the rise

During the Covid-19 pandemic, cybersecurity experts and officials witnessed a significant rise in cyber-attacks. In fact, the number of attacks, as well as the severity of these attacks, have both grown.

According to a U.N. counterterrorism official, there was a 350% increase in phishing websites, while UK-based Iomart reported large-scale data breaches increased 273% in the same time period. Over the past months, Covid-19 related malware attacks have increased, but also advanced attack methods, such as island-hopping, are becoming increasingly common.

As the coronavirus spread, office buildings were locked down and many organisations had to make the shift to remote work quickly. Hackers and cyber criminals took advantage of the confusion, spotting opportunities to break into corporate networks as they struggled to keep pace with the new way of working.

In fact, IT security teams around the world were working around the clock to maintain network security as hundreds, thousands, even millions of people began to log on to their company networks from home.

Digital risks and cyber-attacks

Digital risks come in many different shapes and forms. Last summer, the European Union set sanctions against multiple nations over alleged cyber attacks. Governments, businesses, individuals are all being targeted as criminals seek to gain financially from the panic and upheaval.

Cyber-attacks are not going to go away. Therefore, it is critical to take the necessary precautions, be vigilant and maintain a proactive approach to your network security. Organisations need to be prepared on many levels (e.g. risk management, security awareness and security operations) and have the right capabilities in place to act before, during and after the attack has taken place.

In this issue of Risk Consulting magazine, we offer you insights from If’s leading digital risks and cyber experts. Learn about the latest trends in ransomware, what to look for in cyber insurance and gain insights from experts at Danish Crown on how to secure production from an IT perspective. 

Poul Steffensen
Head of Business Area Industrial, If

Sources used: CNBC, ABC News, Iomart, ZDNet, PWC