The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Rise of Cyber Security Risks with An Islamic View

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of people’s behaviors, forcing them to adopt a new cautious lifestyle. These impacts include the acceleration of online services, mobile money, reduction of cash transactions, as well as the organizations shift to work from home; consequently, the related cyber-risks have increased. This paper reviews four of the most common cybersecurity risks raised during the pandemic around the world, which are phishing campaigns, financial fraud, social engineering, and the risk of employees’ behavior who are working from home. This study also references some examples for some countries comparing their challenges with cybersecurity risks before and after COVID-19 such as Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. In addition, this research recommends some of the best practices and the greatest common countermeasures to overcome the mentioned cybersecurity risks. Besides, this paper views those issues and the proposed solutions from an Islamic perspective.