In the United States, February is often considered the last peak month of flu season. We are all accustomed to the unpleasant coughing fits and runny noses that accompany winter’s chill. However, in a turn of events, the common flu has been relatively uncommon across the country this winter. Instead, we continue to deal with the fallout from the far more contagious—and far less forgiving—SARS-CoV-2 virus. 

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a new round of digital transformation. But in many cases, the rapid pace of digital acceleration has enlarged the digital footprint of both businesses and consumers beyond the capacity of our cybersecurity infrastructure to keep up. The scary reality is that the business impact of COVID-19 may be creating the perfect storm for a cybercrime pandemic; digital citizens will have to act aggressively to secure their data before it’s too late.

Hackers will always exploit a crisis, and the coronavirus outbreak is no different. Since January, cybercriminals have leveraged the COVID-19 pandemic to stage all manner of cyberattacks, from ransomware take-overs of hospital systems to private network hacking. But the latest cybercrime scheme exploits the greatest cybersecurity vulnerability of all: human emotion.