Atlas VPN blog

According to data collected by Atlas VPN, the number of Google searches for "What is VPN" increased by 81% worldwide. The frequency of this query was growing steadily over the first three weeks of March.

According to data gathered and analyzed by Atlas VPN, the number of phishing websites spiked by 350% amid COVID-19 quarantine. As Google reports it, the number of registered phishing sites has been snowballing over the last three months.

According to the data collected by Atlas VPN, cybercriminals started targeting the field of education and attacked users more than 356,000 times during the last academic year (2018-2019). Since textbooks are expensive, and writing essays is time-consuming, pupils search for illegal downloads. In 234,000 cases, downloaded essays had hidden malware.

According to Atlas VPN user data, VPN usage in the US increased by 124% during the last two weeks. VPN usage in the country increased by 71% in the last 7 days alone. Not surprisingly, confirmed coronavirus cases in the US skyrocketed as well.

With a global crisis, comes a number of cybercriminals attempting to take advantage of emergencies to propagate scams. The pandemic over the Covid-19 coronavirus is no different.

According to data investigated by Atlas VPN, children who use the internet excessively are more likely to become depressed. With kids spending 8.5 hours on screen per day, risk of cyberbullying, loneliness, and [anger issues arise.](https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1222950){b} Recently, four thousand US households completed a survey on parental control over social media consumption.

According to a recent [report by Palo Alto Networks](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/iot-threat-report-2020/){b}, summarized and analyzed by Atlas VPN, the US is combating COVID-19 while having 83% of their healthcare systems run on outdated software. The US is taking serious measures to prevent coronavirus from spreading: Trump banned all incoming flights from Europe, Ireland, and the UK.

According to Atlas VPN user data, VPN usage in Italy increased by 112% in the last week. Meanwhile, there are already 24,747 coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and 1,809 deaths confirmed in the country.

As part of continuous efforts to manage users’ privacy violations, Google removed nearly 600 apps from its app store. Between those was Clean Master, a software granting privacy and antivirus protection.