Security News > 2020 > May > Criminals Quick to Exploit COVID-19 Crisis in Europe
In a report Thursday looking at how the pandemic will shape organized crime in the EU, Europol said much of the criminality related to the deadly virus reflects the flexibility of criminal organizations, a trend that was already witnessed during previous financial crises.
The impact became evident much more quickly, with a sharp increase in cybercrime in the first weeks of the virus's spread. "New and adapted attacks appeared almost immediately from the onset of the crisis and have been among the most visible types of criminality," Europol said.
The initial cyberattacks were quite simple, but Europol noted that criminals devised more complex schemes when the pandemic reached Europe.
While the impact of COVID-19 on the level of terrorist threat to the 27-country European Union has been limited so far, Europol said it is worried by the increase of online child pornography and "The conversations of potential offenders around the increased accessibility and vulnerability of children online due to isolation, less supervision and greater online exposure."
"New variations of these COVID-19-related scams appear every day. However, it is expected that once the current pandemic subsides, the number of these types of scams will diminish over time," Europol said.