Many people and companies are eyeing 2021 with a hopeful gleam in their eyes. With the accelerated adoption of remote work arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, security professionals and IT departments have had a stressful year. While vaccines appear to be on the way, many organizations are planning to continue with remote work until at least late spring 2021 while others will continue to migrate to a distributed workforce as part of their long-term business plans. With all of this in mind, a quick look at the cybersecurity, privacy, and compliance Magic 8 Ball indicates that “all signs point to yes” for continued attacks and digital transformation.
In June 2020, Microsoft published a report showing how cybercriminals targeted their phishing attacks to prey on people’s desire for pandemic information. According to the report, COVID-themed phishing attacks peaked in March 2020 but will likely continue in some manner until the global pandemic is under control.