“ Phishing is one of the main ways in which ransomware attacks begin ”
KEVIN CURRAN IEEE SENIOR MEMBER AND PROFESSOR OF CYBERSECURITY AT ULSTER UNIVERSITY
Mimecast ’ s Addison says she has seen a vast array of phishing scams target remote workers in recent months . “ We see cybercriminals target remote workers using recent news to trick victims and use convincing tactics to gain credibility with their targets . We ’ ve seen this with medical announcements , such as the NHS scams following the COVID-19 outbreak , geopolitical events such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine . The latest on the news agenda is monkeypox , with cybercriminals using this as an opportunity to send phishing emails to company employees for ‘ mandatory monkeypox awareness training ’, adjusting their phishing campaigns to be as relevant as possible ,” she says .
What can businesses do to protect their infrastructure for remote working ? Mimecast ’ s Addison says she believes that “ cyber security awareness training is now more important than ever ”. Ulster University ’ s Curran agrees . “ Moving forward , organisations must have proficient protocols and multilayered security measures in place to cater for remote working , and they should also regularly remind staff on the dangers of clicking suspicious links or opening bogus emails ,” he says .
ManageEngine ’ s Ganesan says he predicts that there will be more changes in the working model that will call for the traditional legacy models of security to change , too . “ These changes stretch beyond just protecting corporate
68 September 2022