Atlas VPN blog

There is a common misconception that older people, who tend to have less experience with new technologies, are easier to scam online. However, recent data findings suggest that just the opposite is true.

Cyberattacks are weapons for criminals to disrupt countries’ cybersecurity and get sensitive or even secret information. As the United States is one of the most influential countries globally, it is a massive target for hackers.

Data presented by the Atlas VPN team shows that 45% of organizations hit by ransomware in 2020 are based in the US. Organizations all over the world are being kept hostage by ransomware, and many are being forced to pay criminals because the expense of downtime and loss of reputation if the consumer data goes public outweighs the ransom.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many people lost jobs in the United States. Fraudsters did not hesitate to use this panic to claim unemployment insurance instead of the ones that needed it the most, and some states were not prepared at all.

Cryptocurrencies had a strong start this year, with crypto asset prices, such as Bitcoin (BTC), reaching record-heights. However, that caught the attention of cybercriminals.

In these times of technology, everybody that uses the internet has a lot of personal information online. However, vicious cybercriminals find weaknesses in huge companies which hold sensitive data about you, and with a blink of an eye, it could be all stolen away.

Atlas VPN findings reveal that Americans lost $1.19 billion to imposter fraud in 2020, which is $613.8 million more than the previous year, representing a 106.56% increase.

Due to more people working at home, phishing attacks have increased tremendously over the last year. Lack of cybersecurity in the home environment has made people more vulnerable to receiving fraudulent emails or being directed to deceiving websites.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the majority of people to move their work to their homes, which meant an unprecedented increase in online meeting application usage. Criminals did not overlook this fact and started to distribute malware using popular meeting applications as a lure.

According to the data presented by the Atlas VPN team, the government sector was the most affected by ransomware attacks in 2020, followed by Banking. In total, 50% of last year's ransomware attacks were directed at these industries among the top 10 most-targeted sectors.

Recent findings by Atlas VPN reveal that government documents or benefits fraud jumped 45 times in 2020. Most states have experienced a dramatic surge in fraudulent unemployment benefits claims filed by organized crime rings using stolen identities.