Coronavirus social engineering attacks: Issues and recommendations

Abstract

During the current coronavirus pandemic, cybercriminals are exploiting people's anxieties to steal confidential information, distribute malicious software, perform ransomware attacks and use other social engineering attacks. The number of social engineering attacks is increasing day by day due to people's failure to recognize the attacks. Therefore, there is an urgent need for solutions to help people understand social engineering attacks and techniques. This paper helps individuals and industry by reviewing the most common coronavirus social engineering attacks and provides recommendations for responding to such an attack. The paper also discusses the psychology behind social engineering and introduces security awareness as a solution to reduce the risk of social engineering attacks.