2020/06/21 by Harjinder Singh Lallie, Lynsay A. Shepherd, Jason R. C. Nurse +4 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Computer Science · #cs.CR #cs.CY #cs.HC
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.cose.2021.102248
published as Computers & Security 2021 · 20 pages, 6 figures
arxiv created 2020/06/21 · arxiv published 2020/06/21 · arxiv updated 2021/03/26
The COVID-19 pandemic was a remarkable unprecedented event which altered the lives of billions of citizens globally resulting in what became commonly referred to as the new-normal in terms of societal norms and the way we live and work. Aside from the extraordinary impact on society and business as a whole, the pandemic generated a set of unique cyber-crime related circumstances which also affected society and business. The increased anxiety caused by the pandemic heightened the likelihood of cyber-attacks succeeding corresponding with an increase in the number and range of cyber-attacks. This paper analyses the COVID-19 pandemic from a cyber-crime perspective and highlights the range of cyber-attacks experienced globally during the pandemic. Cyber-attacks are analysed and considered within the context of key global events to reveal the modus-operandi of cyber-attack campaigns. The analysis shows how following what appeared to be large gaps between the initial outbreak of the pandemic in China and the first COVID-19 related cyber-attack, attacks steadily became much more prevalent to the point that on some days, 3 or 4 unique cyber-attacks were being reported. The analysis proceeds to utilise the UK as a case study to demonstrate how cyber-criminals leveraged key events and governmental announcements to carefully craft and design cyber-crime campaigns.