600% INCREASE IN MALICIOUS EMAILS, SAYS TOP UN OFFICIAL

UN disarmament chief warned on Friday that cyber crime is on the rise, with a 600% increase in malicious emails during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Izumi Nakamitsu told an informal meeting of the UN Security Council that the coronavirus crisis is moving the world toward increased technological innovation and online collaboration. But she said “there have also been worrying reports of cyber attacks against health care organisations and medical research facilities worldwide”.

The representative for disarmament affairs said growing digital dependency has increased the vulnerability to cyberattacks, and it is estimated that one such attack takes place every 39 seconds. According to the International Telecommunication Union, she said, nearly 90 countries are still only at the early stages of making commitments to cybersecurity. Nakamitsu said the threat from misusing information and communications technology “is urgent”.

But she said there is also good news on this front, pointing to some global progress at the United Nations to address the threats by a group of government experts who developed 11 voluntary non-binding norms of responsible state behaviour in the use of such technology.

Estonia’s Prime Minister Juri Ratas, whose country holds the Security Council presidency and organised Friday’s meeting on cyber stability and advancing responsible government behaviour in cyberspace, said “the Covid-19 crisis has put extra pressure on our critical services in terms of cybersecurity.” He said the need for “a secure and functioning cyberspace” is more pressing than ever