In the Media
Alessandra Swanson Speaks to Law360 on the Uptick of Cyberattacks Surrounding COVID-19
In the Media
Alessandra Swanson Speaks to Law360 on the Uptick of Cyberattacks Surrounding COVID-19
March 23, 2020
Winston & Strawn Partner Alessandra Swanson spoke with Law360 on how cybercriminals are exploiting the COVID-19 outbreak. Alessandra explains that cyberattacks in the wake of COVID-19 span all industries, but the normal top targets, including health care and financial industries, should be on particularly high alert.
Alessandra says, “There’s definitely an awareness in the financial space that everyone wants to close their deals now given the uncertainty in the market, and that means wire transfer requests flying across email.”
Beyond educating employees on the risks of phishing attacks and spoofed emails, anyone handling a wire transfer order should take extra steps right now to make sure cybercriminals are not trying to divert payments to themselves. That could mean calling someone to double check that a payment is correct, or taking a closer look at the sender's email address.
“It’s a matter of communicating some really common sense instructions to your employees,” Alessandra said.
“This really is an unprecedented time for everyone, and employees are faced with working remotely while being home with their families and in some cases educating their children going throughout their day,” Alessandra added. “So there’s a strong likelihood that they will be distracted when reading their emails.”
For additional insight on this topic, please read the full Law360 article here.
View all of our COVID-19 perspectives here. Contact a member of our COVID-19 Legal Task Force here.