Rapports d’Europol sur la criminalité et la désinformation au cœur de la pandémie ...

C’est malheureusement un constat indubitable ! Au cours de la Covid-19, les criminels ont été prompts à saisir les opportunités d'exploiter la crise en adaptant leurs pistes d’actions et développé de nouvelles activités criminelles. Le nombre record de victimes potentielles confinées à la maison et utilisant les services en ligne à travers l'UE ont ainsi multiplié toutes les vulnérabilités et les opportunités.

Impacts qualitatifs et quantitatifs

Depuis le début de la pandémie, Europol a suivi l'impact de la pandémie Covid-19 sur la cybercriminalité et vient de publier une évaluation de la menace dans son rapport Catching the virus cybercrime, disinformation and the COVID-19 pandemic, au travers du prisme des formes de criminalité suivantes :

• ransomware;
• DDoS;
• child sexual exploitation;
• the dark web;
• hybrid threats: disinformation and interference campaigns.

Europol Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle:
‘This pandemic brings out the best but unfortunately also the worst in humanity. With a huge number of people teleworking from home, often with outdated security systems, cybercriminals prey on the opportunity to take advantage of this surreal situation and focus even more on cybercriminal activities. With this report we want to warn individuals, companies, public institutions and other organisations about these criminal activities. I would also like to draw special attention to the most vulnerable among those victims; I am very concerned about the rise of child sexual abuse online. Europol is investing resources and capacities to support Member States in countering cyber-dependent crime during this difficult situation.’

Principales conclusions

• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cybercrime has been the most visible and striking compared to other criminal activities.
• Criminals active in the domain of cybercrime have been able to adapt quickly and capitalise on the anxieties and fears of their victims.
• Phishing and ransomware campaigns are being launched to exploit the current crisis and are expected to continue to increase in scope and scale.
• Activity around the distribution of child sexual exploitation material online appears to be on the increase, based on a number of indicators.
• Both criminal organisations, states and state-backed actors seek to exploit the public health crisis to advance geopolitical interests.

Source : Europol, “Catching the virus cybercrime, disinformation and the COVID-19 pandemic”

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