Survey: Cybersecurity attacks rising during COVID-19 crisis

Cyberattackers are taking advantage of the COVID-19 crisis to disrupt organizations, but only half technology professionals and leaders are confident their cybersecurity teams are ready to detect and respond to the increasing threats, according to new research by Schaumburg-based IT association ISACA.

ISACA's recent survey of more than 3,700 IT audit, risk, governance and cybersecurity professionals from 123 countries found 51 percent of the respondents are highly confident they are able to handle increased threats, and only 59 percent say their cybersecurity team has the necessary tools and resources at home to perform their job effectively.

The survey found 58 percent of respondents say threat actors are taking advantage of the pandemic to disrupt organizations, and 92 percent say cyberattacks on individuals are increasing.

While 80 percent of organizations shared cyber risk best practices for working at home as shelter in place orders began, 87 percent of respondents still say the rapid transition to remote work has increased data protection and privacy risk.

"Organizations are rapidly and aggressively moving toward new ways of doing business during this time, which is a very positive thing, but it can also lead to making compromises that can leave them vulnerable to threats," says ISACA CEO David Samuelson. "A surge in the number of remote workers means there is a greater attack surface. Remote work is critically important right now, so security has to be at the forefront along with employee education. ISACA professionals have an especially critical role to play in protecting their enterprises, customers and stakeholders during this pandemic."

Most of the professionals believe their jobs are safe. Ten percent think a job loss is likely and 1 percent has been furloughed.

The majority of respondents expect normal business operations to resume by the third quarter of 2020.