Top UN official warns of increase in malicious emails amid Covid-19

The UN disarmament chief warned that cybercrime is on the rise, with a 600 percent increase in malicious emails during the pandemic

A variety of phishing campaigns are taking advantage of the heightened focus on Covid-19 to distribute malware, steal credentials, and scam users out of money.

Izumi Nakamitsu told an informal meeting of the UN Security Council that the coronavirus crisis is moving the world toward increased technological innovation and online collaboration but, there are also reports of cyber attacks taking place worldwide.

Nakamitsu said the threat from misusing information and communications technology ‘is urgent’

According to the International Telecommunication Union, nearly 90 countries are still only at the early stages of making commitments to cybersecurity.

Between March 1 and March 23, Barracuda researchers detected 467,825 spear phishing email attacks, and 9,116 of those detections were related to Covid-19, representing about 2 per cent of attacks.

Although the overall number of these attacks is still low compared to other threats, the threat is growing quickly.