COVID-19 pandemic is changing our lives. People are concerned, and with that concern comes a desire for information, safety and support. Organised crime groups are exploiting the fear, uncertainty and doubt which COVID-19 brings to target individuals and businesses in a variety of ways.

The CIO and CISO have vital roles in making sure the organisation can function as pandemic containment measures are implemented. They need to consider key questions with regards to the effectiveness and security of remote working, dependency on key personnel, and response strategy in the event of cyber and IT incident.

KPMG member firms have seen the rapid build-out of infrastructure by cybercriminals used to launch COVID-19 themed spear-phishing attacks. KPMG summarises typical attack scenarios and giveaways of suspicious phishing emails for risk identification.

In response to these potential attacks during COVID-19 pandemic, KPMG shares our insight on the strategy for the security operations, which includes awareness training, security implementation, additional payment confirmation, and backup and redundancy.

This paper highlights the cyber landscape we have observed during COOVID-19 pandemic and offers key questions for consideration and response insights to help organisations to manage risks.