{"id":10809,"date":"2022-01-25T09:12:45","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T14:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cscdbs.com\/blog\/?p=10809"},"modified":"2026-01-15T09:58:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T14:58:56","slug":"new-research-from-csc-on-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-internet-security-and-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cscdbs.com\/blog\/new-research-from-csc-on-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-internet-security-and-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"New Research from CSC on the Impact of COVID-19 on Internet Security and Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hackers are using company domain names for malicious attacks more than ever before. Established research shows that phishing and related malware attacks most commonly occur from a compromised or hijacked legitimate domain name, a maliciously registered, confusingly similar domain name, or via email header spoofing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domain security intelligence is the first line of defense in preventing domain cyberattacks. More information extracted and shared with key decision makers means less opportunity for cybercriminals to compromise a brand. In this digital economy, where bad actors can breach network credentials using phishing schemes, it\u2019s essential to secure domains that run websites, email, applications, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the start of 2020, CSC began analyzing domain registrations. We identified surges in activity of potentially malicious registrations that incorporated domain name variations, including a variety of homoglyphs\u2014domain names that appear visually similar to those of official trusted websites. In late 2021, the onset of the COVID variant Omicron led us to conduct additional analysis. Nearly 500,000 COVID-related web domains registered since January 2020 were analyzed, with many posing threats to brands and consumers due to their registration patterns and behaviors. Our new report, \u201cTwo Year Analysis: The Impact of COVID-19 on Internet Security and Safety,\u201d serves as a real-world case study that calls attention to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. The ongoing surge in suspicious or potentially malicious domain registrations whenever there are massive global events<\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  2. The resulting systemic risks with the domain name system\u2014which lead to supply chain vulnerabilities, endless phishing, fraud (i.e., ransomware and business email compromise), brand abuse, counterfeiting, and consumer safety peril<\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

  3. The need for broader domain security standards, as well as policy or regulations over the domain name system activity<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Other key findings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n