As COVID-19 spreads quickly, so does the threat of cybercrime. Hackers are taking advantage of the current uncertainty to send out even more phishing messages than usual, with varying degrees of sophistication.
The sector which is most crucial to containing the spread of COVID-19 – healthcare – is perhaps also the most vulnerable to ransomware attack.

Security experts are increasingly concerned about cybercrime because it currently benefits from favourable external conditions: a massive and uncoordinated shift to working from home offices in both public and private sectors, nationwide lockdowns which require increasing use of electronic transactions, and a rush for basic necessities, which fractures any semblance of ‘civil’ society. In the long run, economic recession will likely trigger tectonic changes in how young people sustain themselves. An increased reliance on criminality, both online and offline, is to be expected, particularly in regions where youth unemployment was already high.