NLB Blog

The threat landscape of cybersecurity changes daily, with hackers and cybersecurity professionals in a perpetual cat-and-mouse chase; hackers discover new ways to infiltrate and exploit their targets, and the cybersecurity industry looks for vulnerabilities, tries to anticipate new threats and responds when cyber security issues arise.

The email systems of several government agencies including the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Commerce were breached and monitored by foreign actors most likely connected to the Russian government, the Trump administration acknowledged December 13, 2020. “Highly sophisticated” threat actors were apparently able to compromise authentication protocols used by Microsoft’s Office suite of applications, including Word, Outlook, and Excel, according to the Washington Post

The holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year for scammers and hackers. Shoppers and philanthropists are both easier targets during the busy holiday season. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant increased virtual visits with loved ones, and of course remote work. The number of people willing to use their personal devices for holiday shopping has also increased as a result of the pandemic.

The threat landscape of cybersecurity changes daily, with hackers and cybersecurity professionals in a perpetual cat-and-mouse chase; hackers discover new ways to infiltrate and exploit their targets, and the cybersecurity industry looks for vulnerabilities, tries to anticipate new threats and responds when cyber security issues arise.

Pre-Covid online shopping was already expected to continue its increase in 2020, but with more customers avoiding the typical Black Friday crowds, this holiday season is set to break online sales records. A recent survey, commissioned by Cyberscout and conducted online by The Harris Poll among over 2,000 U.S. adults, found that 84 percent of consumers plan to shop online for the holidays this year, with 23 percent of them reporting that they are likely to shop through a social media platform.

The 2020 holiday season is coinciding with a major spike in Covid-19 cases and fatalities and many families are opting to avoid travel and potentially exposing elderly and / or vulnerable relatives. Hosting gatherings on video conferencing platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet may help to keep families physically safer, but it can introduce a number of cybersecurity and privacy-related threats.