The recent Covid-19 pandemic has disturbed our lives in an unprecedented manner. With that it is also affecting our day to day work. With regards to information security employees need to keep a few things in mind. There are malicious actors out there that will take advantage of this crisis and in doing such we as employees must be vigilant in our use of computers. The long and short of it, we need to be careful what we do on company assets as well as personal. Social Proof Phishing attacks are when malicious actors try to get you to open or do something given a certain crisis or news worthy event that affects us all is present. These aren’t new and have existed for a while now. An example I can give is the numerous email phishing campaigns that existed after Puerto Rico was devastated. So many people thought they were donating money to the cause via an email click, when in all actuality they weren’t. And that’s just it, there are people that will capitalize on our need to help or be informed. Please be cautious. Use official channels and scrutinize any and all information provided or shared. At this time our best resources are cdc.gov and the national media, like Fox News or CNN. Local news stations are also a good resource. Anything you receive by email or social media is potentially a risk or misinformation. Verify what it is you may have received by either. Be certain the address is legit and that the information provided isn’t requiring anything from you in return, e.g. login credentials, payment info, or personal information. We’re all in this together and we will all come out of it together granted we don’t panic and think prior to acting.
