Cyber Defense eMagazine July 2020 Edition

• There has been an unprecedented rise in phishing scams with more than 854,000 confirmed
phishing and counterfeit web-pages reported in Q1 of 2020. Besides, more than 4 million pages
fall in the category of suspicious pages.
• The alarming issue is that nearly 30% of these confirmed phishing pages (approximately more
than a quarter of a million) pertain to COVID-19 alone.
• Though the first COVID-19 related phishing scam surfaced by the end of January 2020, the figure
for March 2020 alone is 9,116, a 667% increase over February 2020.
• Eighteen million malware and phishing emails and more than 240 million COVID-19-related spam
email messages are sent over Gmail daily.
• Citizens in the US have lost somewhere around $12 million to coronavirus phishing attacks. And
in the UK, it's over £2 million.
Healthcare - The Most Vulnerable Industry Domain to Phishing Attacks
COVID-19 has kept the entire world on tenterhooks. The FUD (the fear, uncertainty, and doubt) and the
non-availability of a reliable cure or vaccine is the primary reason for the panic created in people's minds.
Thus, when they encounter an email message seemingly originating from an influential source like the
US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, WHO, or other prominent health agencies, people rarely
check their authenticity. Recently, there has been a surge of phishing emails sent by these malicious
actors impersonating healthcare professionals and organizations, making healthcare one of the most
vulnerable sectors in coronavirus times.
Offer for Loans and Grants - The Most Effective COVID-19 Phishing Attack
The pandemic has thrown the world economy in disarray. It has affected almost every segment of society.
Under these circumstances, people eagerly look forward to Governmental aid such as EMI moratoriums,
loans, and other giveaways. Malicious actors have been taking advantage of these situations and are
trying to lure people to fictitious websites, where the unsuspecting users end up providing vital information
leading to severe data breaches. These attacks are seen in the form of phishing emails, ransomware, or
banking malware attacks.
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