Whenever a polarizing event occurs, there are people looking for ways to exploit the situation. Cyber crooks are long known for using large events or important topics to try to phish and scam, infiltrate networks, and establish footholds. And the events that polarized the world's largest economy in 2020 set the perfect stage for advanced persistent threat (APT) groups and other organized cybercriminals to act. It is the ideal combination of all the ingredients you need for successful attacks, not only in the United States but everywhere in the world.
Why? Simply put, when large segments of the population are polarized (in fact, tribalized), they are eager to consume the things that help them make sense of their convictions. Opponents' facts and experiences are perceived with bias and even disbelief, which amplifies the impact of things that a person believes "makes sense." Playing to this scenario makes it straightforward for cybercriminals to distribute infected files or share links to malicious websites or downloads.
Furthermore, coping with a global health crisis takes a substantial amount of focus, especially with the numbers rising. There isn't a single person who is not affected, directly or indirectly, by COVID-19, who doesn't have it on the brain every day as they worry about the health and safety of loved ones or their income.
Finally, the pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we work — now predominantly from home — and the impacts on our networking infrastructure are significant. So many unmonitored devices are now in close vicinity to the entry points on a corporation's network and radically increasing the attack surface for companies around the ..
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