Analysing the mobile threat landscape during the pandemic

Malicious actors were quick to take advantage of the hysteria surrounding the virus

Excerpt from the full article on Legal IT Insider

In this article, Steve Whiter (Appurity Director) and Tom Davison (Mobile Security Leader at cybersecurity company Lookout) join forces to discuss the mobile threat landscape during the ongoing global health crisis.

In the first few months of Covid-19, during the build-up to lockdown in the UK, malicious actors were quick to take advantage of the hysteria surrounding the virus. This led to an influx of Covid-related phishing scams and fake apps.

In the 2020 Mobile Phishing Spotlight Report, Lookout reported a 37% increase in enterprise mobile phishing in Q1 of 2020 (compared to the previous quarter) with many new domains appearing containing the word “Covid-19” or “Coronavirus”.

At the same time, a plethora of fake apps were purporting to provide valuable information relating to Covid-19. They weren’t pretending to be official government track-and-trace type apps, it was more a case of “Find out what’s going on in your area”.

Amidst a great deal of confusion and fear, it was clearly difficult for many people to determine what an official app looked like. Plus, governments and key organisations in different countries were taking different approaches, even within the UK. News and updates from trusted sources were valuable as people were naturally concerned, and they wanted information quickly.