Amidst the global pandemic, cyberattackers are employing fear of COVID in social engineering tactics to strike you at home or in your business. With more people working at home and unfamiliar with the new business norms, these social engineering tactics are even more prevalent. These attacks use multiple methods; one of the most common is creating a sense of urgency.

Cyberattackers will instill crisis, intimidation, or fear to rush their victim to make them want to act rashly. So, beware of any phone calls, text messages, or emails that create an emergency. These attackers are very good at pretending to be legitimate organizations like the World Health Organization or the CDC. If you get any messages like these, be careful to scrutinize what they're saying. If the message seems valid, but you still have your suspicions, ask for credentials and authentication that they are whom they say they are. If they try to talk around your questions, remember that an organization's true agents don't shy away from proving who they are.

These bad-guys can get to you through other means, such as too-good-to-be-true messages (like miracle cures) or selling products thought to be scarce at exorbitant prices that are in reality only a few dollars. For miracle cures, The CDC and WHO will always have the most up-to-date information on COVID and its vaccines. You can also use free web services like Google Shopping to compare product prices across the web or CamelCamelCamel to not only compare prices on Amazon but look at price histories too!

Lastly, be sure to dig into the stories and statements you hear online, especially on social media. There are many people who are, intentionally or not, spreading misinformation or skewed facts. The people who are doing it willfully can easily use that to promote an agenda, trick the audience into a vulnerable situation, or simply create chaos. If you see something online that's preying on your emotions, take a breath, pause, and (if it's really that important) go to the source.

And that should be the main takeaway to reduce your risk of being preyed on by socially engineering cyberattacks; Take a moment, breath, and use your commonsense. The cyberattackers want you to be panicked and rushed. Don't play into their scheme, breath.

For more information, check out SANS Security Awareness' youtube videos, like this one, or contact a Nims & Associates IT specialist today.