Security News > 2020 > August > Interpol Warns of 'Alarming' Cybercrime Rate During Pandemic
Global police body Interpol warned Monday of an "Alarming" rate of cybercrime during the coronavirus pandemic, with criminals taking advantage of people working from home to target major institutions.
"Cybercriminals are developing and boosting their attacks at an alarming pace, exploiting the fear and uncertainty caused by the unstable social and economic situation created by COVID-19," said Interpol Secretary General Juergen Stock.
Cybercriminals are increasingly using disruptive malware against critical infrastructure and healthcare institutions, it added.
From January to April, some 907,000 spam messages, 737 incidents related to malware and 48,000 malicious URLs - all related to COVID-19 were detected by one of Interpol's private sector partners, it said.
Once a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, Interpol said, "It is highly probable that there will be another spike in phishing related to these medical products as well as network intrusion and cyberattacks to steal data."