Ai Editorial: Strengthening security for remoteness and WFH

11th April, 2020

Global health crisis and quarantine has impacted our lives in a striking manner.

A couple of aspects that need to be assessed from security and fraud prevention perspective following the change in our work routine owing to the COVID-19 pandemic:  

  • Professionally people have had to get accustomed to video conferencing, #WFH etc.
  • Spurt in online shoppers, more mobile app use, fluctuating cart values and velocity etc.

Working from home could increase #cybersecurity risks.

One area of concern has been #ZoomBombing. Zoom has been graceful enough to acknowledge that it did fell short when it came to privacy and security expectations. Users need to follow the guidelines and recommendations on securing Zoom. For instance, Zoom has introduced a new icon. It simplifies how hosts can quickly find and enable many of Zoom’s in-meeting security features. Additionally, the Zoom Meeting ID will no longer be displayed on the title toolbar.

In fact, the main lesson would be keep all software updated and focus on unusual passwords, use two-factor authentication everywhere etc.

 Another issue has been e-commerce fraud.

As highlighted by ACI Worldwide this week, merchants are starting to experience dramatic increases in COVID-19-related phishing activities, with stolen credentials released into the eCommerce payments chain, as well as increased friendly fraud activities. The company also shared that average fraudulent attempted purchase value increased by $36 in March, driven by electronic and retail goods; this corresponds to a fraudulent attempted transactional value increase by 13 percent.

Here are few areas to look at from security perspective:

  • Rely on an organization’s tech toolbox- official devices with firewall and antivirus protection, along with security features like VPN and two-factor authentication. Engage frequently with web and mobile site security management.
  • Rely on VPN for encrypting data
  • Coronavirus-themed emails seeking personal information are likely to be phishing scams. If an email includes spelling, punctuation and grammar errors, it’s likely a sign of a phishing email. Delete the email.

Useful links:

Do’s and don’ts of videoconferencing security

Tips for merchants to maintain security

 

Ritesh Gupta

Ai Correspondent