The COVID-19 pandemic has rendered people, societies, economies, and countries very vulnerable. During this crisis, we all rely more than ever on our internet-connected devices to work, communicate, shop, share, and receive information – to mitigate the impact of having to remain physically distant.
Over the past few years, cybercrime and threats have been on the rise but during this pandemic, they have skyrocketed.
In a recent report from Interpol, we find that all types of online attacks have increased – but COVID-19 related online scams and phishing scams have seen a massive jump. They also report an alarming rate of cyber attacks during the pandemic.
Attackers are increasingly targeting governments, corporations, and large organizations – but individuals still remain the easy targets.
So why do you need security awareness training?
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You need to know the basics
Most individuals haven’t been taught the basics of Internet Security. When you learn to drive a car, you are taught how to stay safe on the road. There are some good practices you need to follow. Most of us have not received such training about how to use the internet safely – hence the need.
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You’re Connected 24*7
Let’s face it – The amount of time we spend on the internet – whether it’s casually scrolling through social media or working is no longer minuscule. We spend most of the day online. We have access to high speed internet connectivity that is always on. This makes it so much easier for attackers to access our devices without our knowledge.
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Online Threats keep changing and increasing
Phishing, click baiting, CEO fraud, data breaches, social engineering, DDoS –these are just the most common types of attacks. There are scores of other types or attacks. Attackers keep changing the dynamics of their attacks in order to catch us unaware.
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Your devices need to be secured
Our personal devices carry a lot of personal information about us which are tracked by various apps and websites that we use. We need to know how to safely use social media from our personal and work devices and how to keep our devices secure especially while working from home.