Covid-19 Tech and Security Resources

For every good deed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic (such as telcos not charging for long distance or data overages) there is someone trying to take advantage of it.

It’s not just people buying all the hand sanitizer they can get and reselling it online for a profit. Bad actors have been sending malware and phishing attempts disguised as Covid-19 emails.

At the same time, more people than ever before are working remotely. IT departments are scrambling to set people up who have not worked remotely before, and to scale up to support larger numbers. Some businesses are revisiting their remote work policies to make sure they are adequate, and to let employees know their employer’s expectations.

When doing rapid deployment or change like this, it is tempting to take shortcuts, and to some extent that is inevitable. But security and privacy issues are important to keep top of mind. It would be counterproductive if lax security measures resulted in a successful ransomware attack or fraudulent money transfer.

We all need to be cautious about opening emails with a Covid-19 subject to make sure it is actually from a familiar source.

A good way to reduce that risk, and to reduce the onslaught of information, is to pick a few trusted sources and stick to those. That might include a government website, and a major unbiased news network.

For those in the IT and business world, here are some sources with information from a science and security approach.

The National Cyber Security Alliance has launched the COVID-19 Security Resource Library

MIT Technology Review has a Coronavirus Tech Report newsletter

Wired has a daily Coronavirus newsletter and webpage

Our weekly (Friday) Top Ten in Tech Law newsletter will include relevant tech and legal issues related to Covid-19.

We are all reeling from this pandemic and feeling out of control. So focus on what you can control, and we will get through this. Now go wash your hands.

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