Bad actors have flooded the enterprise with coronavirus-related attacks, but professionals working from home have other worries, Unisys Security found.
Less than one-third (31%) of Americans said they are concerned about their data security while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Unisys Security report found. Overall concerns around internet security, including computer viruses and hacking, have dropped since 2019, ranking the lowest among the four primary areas of security in the survey.Â
These findings are particularly concerning given the rise in cyberattacks during the pandemic: The FBI found that online crimes reported to the Bureau's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) have increased by 400% because of the crisis. The Federal Trade Commision (FTC) also found more than 52,000 cases of reported fraud related to COVID-19 since January 2020.
The Unisys Security Index, released on Tuesday, calculates a score out of 300 that measures consumer attitudes over eight areas of security in four categories. The eight areas include national security, disaster/epidemic, bankcard fraud, financial obligations, virus/hacking, online transactions, identity theft, and personal safety.Â
The four broader categories consist of national security, financial security, internet security, and personal security. The index score remained at the historical high it found last year of 175, but with the global pandemic, the makeup of this score looks a bit different.Â
With the report being conducted at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, concerns around health, safety, and economic stability naturally rose.Â
Concerns about disasters and epidemics have jumped to the top three areas of concern, at 62%. Personal safety saw the largest increase, with 58% reportedly seriously concerned. Worries surrounding the other six security areas have fallen, including those related to internet security.Â
While reliance on the internet has increased dramatically during COVID-19, the majority of Americans (70%) said they are not concerned about the risk of being scammed. Americans were 24% less likely to report a concern about a data breach during the pandemic compared to the global average, the report found.Â
Only 45% of respondents said they are concerned about the risk of being scammed during the health crisis, which is particularly worrisome given that 98% of cyberattacks are deployed by social engineering methods like phishing, which can be particularly difficult to detect.
"It's not surprising to see people's level of concern for their personal safety jump in light of the global health crisis.
