COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND CYBERCRIME: INSIGHTS FROM PRACTITIONERS

European Societies

The COVID-19 outbreak and the far-reaching lockdown measures are having direct and indirect effects on complex social domains, including opportunities for crime offline and online. This paper presents preliminary analyses about the short-term effect of COVID-19 and lockdown measures on cyberdependent crime and online fraud in the UK. Time series analyses from data about crimes known to police between May 2019 and May 2020 are used to explore the extent to which cybercrime has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. More specifically, we examine whether cybercrime has suffered an increase during the months with the strictest lockdown restrictions, as an effect of the displacement of crime opportunities from physical to online environments. Results indicate that reports of cybercrime have increased during the COVID-19 outbreak, and these were remarkably large during the two months with the strictest lockdown policies and measures. In particular, the number of frauds associated with online shopping and auctions, and the hacking of social media and email, which are the two most common cybercrime categories in the UK, have seen the largest increases in the number of incidents. The increase in cyber-dependent crimes has mainly been experienced by individual victims rather than organisations.

IntechOpen eBooks, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic made both individuals and the whole society extremely vulnerable in all respects. Technology has become even more important in both our working and personal lives. The social distancing made significant consequences in developing different types of cyber criminality, because it made possible for the perpetrators to become invisible during the constant harassing their victims and to turn over current vulnerability of the society in general to their own advantage. Crime and violence have shifted from real life to cyberspace, leaving visible consequences in our reality as well. This chapter will present new types of cyber criminality, as well as some new forms of classic types of crime, the occurrence of which was, directly or indirectly, conditioned by the pandemic and the new way of life imposed on us all around the world. Also, practical recommendations will be given about the possibilities of avoiding possible victimization, which occurs as a secondary victimization due to a pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a remarkable unprecedented event which altered the lives of billions of citizens globally resulting in what became commonly referred to as the new-normal in terms of societal norms and the way we live and work. Aside from the extraordinary impact on society and business as a whole, the pandemic generated a set of unique cyber-crime related circumstances which also affected society and business. The increased anxiety caused by the pandemic heightened the likelihood of cyber-attacks succeeding corresponding with an increase in the number and range of cyber-attacks. This paper analyses the COVID-19 pandemic from a cyber-crime perspective and highlights the range of cyber-attacks experienced globally during the pandemic. Cyber-attacks are analysed and considered within the context of key global events to reveal the modus-operandi of cyber-attack campaigns. The analysis shows how following what appeared to be large gaps between the initial outbreak of the pandemic in China and the first COVID-19 related cyber-attack, attacks steadily became much more prevalent to the point that on some days, 3 or 4 unique cyber-attacks were being reported. The analysis proceeds to utilise the UK as a case study to demonstrate how cyber-criminals leveraged key events and governmental announcements to carefully craft and design cyber-crime campaigns.

Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic acts as a major cause of the attention of the whole world. All the aspects of life in our current world have been impacted by the advancement of information and communication technologies. Like governments, businesses, and transactions, most of the sectors in the world are done through online communications, and networking. This increased reliance on online activities has triggered a surge in various kinds of illicit activities targeting online users. In regard to cyberspace, offenders use the Internet as a tool to reveal and access vulnerabilities in the security systems of Internet users, which enables them to inflict harm through means of theft and other illegal acts. Various new techniques and regulations have been implemented in order to counteract COVID-19 online scams, but the rise of cybercrime has given offenders room to perform their illegalities. The main objective of this article is to address the cause of the online COVID-19 scams and analyze them accordingly. Secondly, it seeks to provide the contemporary techniques used by the scammers in harvesting information from the victims. And finally, by taking the USA and European Union as a case study, the article will highlight the possible and efficient ways to tackle COVID-19 scams. The article concludes with a discussion on the plausible strategies and steps that are available to protect Internet users from such scams and mitigate the associated risks.

American Journal of Criminal Justice

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically altered life, killing hundreds of thousands of people and leading many countries to issue "stay-at-home" orders to contain the virus's spread. Based on insights from routine activity theory (Cohen & Felson 1979), it is likely that COVID-19 will influence victimization rates as people alter their routines and spend more time at home and less time in public. Yet, the pandemic may affect victimization differently depending on the type of crime as street crimes appear to be decreasing while domestic crimes may be increasing. We consider a third type of crime: cybercrime. Treating the pandemic as a natural experiment, we investigate how the pandemic has affected rates of cybervictimization. We compare pre-pandemic rates of victimization with post-pandemic rates of victimization using datasets designed to track cybercrime. After considering how the pandemic may alter routines and affect cybervictimization, we find that the pandemic has not radically altered cyberroutines nor changed cybervictimization rates. However, a model using routine activity theory to predict cybervictimization offers clear support for the theory's efficacy both before and after the pandemic. We conclude by considering plausible explanations for our findings.

Books Guns and Coffee, 2020

This paper provides that crimes and terroristic activities are not barred from any given pandemic, as evident by the current COVID-19 crisis. It shares that while people are fearful of the situation, others-the criminally minded individuals, tends to take the situation into their advantage without remorse and hesitations.

2020

This research project examines the relationship between teleworking cybersecurity protocols during the COVID-19 era and employee's perception of their efficiency and performance predictability. COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus and it has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Since March 2020, many employees in the United States who used operate onsite, have been working from their homes (teleworking) to mitigate the spread of the virus through social distancing. The premise of this research project is that teleworking can transform these employees into unintentional insider threats or UITs. Iinterviews were conducted through video conferencing with nine employees in Virginia, USA to examine the problem. This is an interdisciplinary research project which brings together the disciplines of sociology and computer science. Narrative Analysis was used to unpack the interviews. The major findings from the research efforts demonstrate that employees are trusting of the cybersecurity protocols that their organizations implemented but they also believe they are vulnerable, and that the protocols are not as reliable as in-person working arrangements. While the respondents perceived that the cybersecurity protocols lend to performance predictability, they seem to think it disrupts their efficiency.

2022

Information is a significant asset of any organization. The increased information demand by all parties has gained attention and raised security concerns-especially in this digital era where everyone depends heavily on the Internet. The Internet and online platforms expose valuable information to various information threats. These pervasive threats compromise information privacy, safety, and security. Legitimate people and criminals compete to access information. Criminals use innovative ways to gradually increase information security threats, especially in the small business sector with only a minimal budget for proactive security measures. Due to the scarcity of academic research on information security threats for small businesses, this study presents the impact of security threats on businesses during the global Covid-19 pandemic. A qualitative survey within the interpretive approach was used to gather data from 20 small businesses in Western Cape, South Africa, to fill this gap. The study used judgmental sampling to select research participants who are business owners. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results indicated the knowledge gap relating to information threats, even though most businesses are familiar with the costly and negative impact of threats on business operations, resulting in business discontinuity. However, some small business sectors showed minimal awareness a6nd understanding of information security threats, their impact, and proactive mitigation strategies. The study concluded with recommendations to protect against information security threats.

Research Inspiration: An International Multidisciplinary e-Journal

Cybercrimes have become as common as petty crimes and at every level we can face situations that make us vulnerable to cybercrimes through links, text messages on phones, scam phone calls etc. that demand to sensitive information and misuse them. The 2019-2021 Corona Virus (SARS-CoV-2) Pandemic has shown a drastic increase in cybercrimes. As use of technology, remote access work and communication rise, increase in digital process increase, it has also made people vulnerable to many different types of cyber-attacks such as phishing, malwares and social engineering. It has also resulted in commercial theft of intellectual property. This paper tries to throw light on economic loses that have occurred due to cybercrimes.

IGI Global eBooks, 2020