Cybercriminals are finding it much easier to identify vulnerable organizations

Covid-19 has forced many businesses to digitize their operations virtually overnight and adopt new security habits in a very short timeframe. In turn, cybercriminals have adapted to this new environment and have even become more efficient at finding and targeting vulnerable organizations.

This is according to a new report from BlackBerry, which details the cybersecurity landscape in the age of Covid-19.

We are witnessing a merging of cyber and physical threats, the report asserts, with criminals targeting healthcare organizations and using the pandemic as a hook to trick vulnerable citizens.

The report also states that the crimeware-as-a-service business model is growing more popular, as well as more sophisticated, because many hacker-for-hire groups have begun to collaborate.

“Not only was the ransomware-as-a-service model highly successful,” the report states, “but the additional research into threat actors such as BAHAMUT and CostaRicto shows that these groups possess the tools once thought to be solely the domain of nation-state attackers.”

With hackers equipped with more advanced tools, businesses everywhere are dealing with a whole new level of threat, with attacks becoming more frequent, skilful and targeted.

Ransomware, for example, is no longer used indiscriminately, but rather aimed at a select group of victims that are more likely to pay out.

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