COVID-19 has suddenly disrupted our normal way of life in many ways. Teleworking is the new normal for employees to keep the economy afloat.
Telecom service providers all around the world are observing a sudden surge in traffic as people use virtual means for meetings, events and entertainment. Usually, telcos build enough capacity for spikes and surges that are anticipated during key festivals and events. However they are now experiencing a tremendous and sustained traffic growth that is putting significant pressure on their networks and operations. Since more people are conducting their day to day life/business over the Internet, cybercriminals are trying to profit from this situation. There have been many websites launched by cybercriminals that claim to sell COVID-19 related information and products with the intent to steal customer information or deliver malware to their computers. While we are now avoiding physical proximity and observing social distancing in the physical world, we are much more active on digital platforms. Everyone has a part to play to ensure a safe and secure digital experience in these challenging times.
Customers should strengthen their defenses with appropriate endpoint security tools that protect them from both known and unknown (zero-day) attacks.
For enterprises, it is important that their employees use appropriate endpoint security along with VPN to access corporate resources/data. While strengthening their own defenses, Telcos should also ensure that access to malicious sites that are being launched on a daily basis to lure customers to give their confidential information, must be blocked regularly.
Check Point is playing its part in ensuring a secure digital experience for customers and telcos in these challenging times by offering endpoint security solutions for all, free of charge, for a limited period so that they can secure themselves easily. The research team at Check Point is actively discovering malicious sites and notifying customers as well as authorities on a regular basis. In this situation, the adoption of regular check-ins with telco customers using virtual means and offering virtual appliances/software based solutions that can be installed and managed remotely will allow telecom operators to augment capacity while providing a secure digital experience.
Making the most from working at home. Image credit: Checkpoint.
