A deeper look into cybersecurity issues in the wake of Covid-19: A survey

This study analyzed the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis from the angle of cyber-crime, highlighting the wide spectrum of cyberattacks that occurred around the world. The modus operandi of cyberattack campaigns was revealed by analyzing and considering cyberattacks in the context of major world events. Following what appeared to be substantial gaps between the initial breakout of the virus and the first COVID-19-related cyber-attack, the investigation indicates how attacks became significantly more frequent over time, to the point where three or four different cyber-attacks were reported on certain days. This study contributes in the direction of fifteen types of cyber-attacks which were identified as the most common pattern and its ensuing devastating events during the global COVID-19 crisis. The paper is unique because it covered the main types of cyber-attacks that most organizations are currently facing and how to address them. An intense look into the recent advances that cybercriminals leverage, the dynamism, calculated measures to tackle it, and never-explored perspectives are some of the integral parts which make this review different from other present reviewed papers on the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative methodology was used to provide a robust response to the objective used for the study. Using a multi-criteria decision-making problem-solving technique, many facets of cybersecurity that have been affected during the pandemic were then quantitatively ranked in ascending order of severity. The data was generated between March 2020 and December 2021, from a global survey through online contact and responses, especially from different organizations and business executives. The result show differences in cyber-attack techniques; as hacking attacks was the most frequent with a record of 330 out of 895 attacks, accounting for 37%. Next was Spam emails attack with 13%; emails with 13%; followed by malicious domains with 9%. Mobile apps followed with 8%, Phishing was 7%, Malware 7%, Browsing apps with 6%, DDoS has 6%, Website apps with 6%, and MSMM with 6%. BEC frequency was 4%, Ransomware with 2%, Botnet scored 2% and APT recorded 1%. The study recommends that it will continue to be necessary for governments and organizations to be resilient and innovative in cybersecurity decisions to overcome the current and future effects of the pandemic or similar crisis, which could be long-lasting. Hence, this study's findings will guide the creation, development, and implementation of more secure systems to safeguard people from cyber-attacks.