Digital Shadows Report: How COVID-19 is Impacting Cybercriminal Activity
The latest findings from the Digital Shadows' Photon Research team highlight how the pandemic is shaping the business operations of criminal networks, which, like those of legitimate businesses, have shifted dramatically. Tracking how the market is changing in real time, Digital Shadows has observed that some operations have quickly curtailed their activity while the majority of malicious actors are capitalizing on the crisis, noting, for example, that an increase in online transactions has potentially bolstered success rates for credit and debit card fraud.
Digital Shadows has observed threat actors operating on cybercriminal forums and marketplaces expressing their worries and a sense of desperation as to how the pandemic will affect their established business models. Some are urgently trying to adapt their offerings to survive in this vastly changed landscape. Other cybercriminals see an opportunity to profit from mass hysteria and panic or take advantage of the increased online exposure that virus-tackling measures have inadvertently caused.