Digital technology provider Subex said on Wednesday it has detected 46 per cent increase in attacks on smart homes, enterprises and control systems connected to critical infrastructure as the global cyber threat landscape alters amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The company also detected and reported a spurt in deceptive attacks on critical infrastructure elements across the world, especially in Eastern Europe, where these attacks are growing in volume. The most attacked regions include North America, South Asia, and the Middle East.
The quality of these attacks is also improving with each passing week, it said while releasing findings of its quarterly threat landscape report for the first quarter of 2020. The report has been prepared using data gathered and analysed from Subex's global network functional across 62 cities around the world.
"As the world adjusts to the new normal, hackers are evolving faster than ever before. They are taking advantage of our diffused attention and the lack of resources to keep up the pressure on cybersecurity teams at an enterprise, individual users, and government levels," said Managing Director and CEO Vinod Kumar.
"Such widespread attacks themed on the COVID-19 pandemic are unprecedented and require coordinated action from all stakeholders to defeat the machinations of the actors involved," he said in a statement.
Subex had issued an advisory on the onset of coronavirus themed attacks in the first week of March. Subsequently, the company has been keeping tabs on the changes in the threat environment brought about by these attacks and by the emergence of new actors focused on attacking specific segments such as healthcare.
In the last quarter, there has been a rise in deceptive attacks on critical infrastructure designed to keep national Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) and other cyber defence agencies occupied while the hackers chase other high-value targets, said Subex.
Besides, there has been a 68 per cent rise in coronavirus-themed phishing emails across classes. Enterprise and manufacturing are the two main target segments.
"A new breed of hackers is acting to destabilise enterprises through complex social engineering means and targeted deceptive messaging emerges," said the Subex report.
( With inputs from ANI )