The FBI has warned of increased cyberattacks and fraud schemes related to COVID-19. Business email compromise is also anticipated to rise as a result of the pandemic, with more than 1200 complaints already reported to the FBI related to COVID-19 fraud. As companies have shifted to remote work, they should adopt heightened cybersecurity protections, as suggested by the FBI:
Do:
- Select trusted and reputable telework software vendors; conduct additional due diligence when selecting foreign-sourced vendors.
- Restrict access to remote meetings, conference calls or virtual classrooms, including the use of passwords if possible.
- Beware of social engineering tactics aimed at revealing sensitive information. Make use of tools that block suspected phishing emails or allow users to report and quarantine them.
- Beware of advertisements or emails purporting to be from telework software vendors.
- Always verify the web address of legitimate websites or manually type it into the browser.
Don't:
- Share links to remote meetings, conference calls or virtual classrooms on open websites or open social media profiles.
- Open attachments or click links within emails from senders you do not recognize.
- Enable remote desktop access functions like Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) or Virtual Network Computing (VNC) unless absolutely needed.
