COVID-19 and Cyberdefense
A biological virus goes digital
As the pandemic unfolds and countries worldwide go to great lengths in handling the crisis we witness a new evil rising. Secluded in the shadow of the biological hazard follows a wave of digital ones.
Societies worldwide face the challenge of lockdowns and, as a logical consequence, switch a lot of their social and working lives to digital. This opens a lot of opportunities, both for good and bad.
Hygiene is more important than ever, both analog and digital
At this point we as a society depend on digital more than ever before. To minimize the spread of COVID-19, people all over the world turn to the web for support. We work from our home office. Artists perform live via streams for our entertainment. We keep in contact with our loved ones, even if we cannot meet in person. We gather the latest news and information online to stay up to date.
But with this, the dark side of the web closes in on us as well: fraudsters, acting as health ministry or WHO officials, extracting personal information or money for fake-tests, criminals spreading fake-news and malware hidden in virus heatmaps or tracking apps, or even attacking healthcare organizations, putting human lives at risk.