Russian Foreign Ministry Warns Remote Work Increases Risk Of Cyberpandemic

Russian Foreign Ministry Warns Remote Work Increases Risk of Cyberpandemic

Humanity is threatened today by not only the coronavirus pandemic but also a so-called cyberpandemic, which is especially relevant now as more of the world switches to telecommuting, Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of International Information Security Andrey Krutskikh said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2020) Humanity is threatened today by not only the coronavirus pandemic but also a so-called cyberpandemic, which is especially relevant now as more of the world switches to telecommuting, Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of International Information Security Andrey Krutskikh said on Tuesday.

"Basically, we are dealing with two pandemics. One is the bio-pandemic connected with the spread of the coronavirus. People are dying, and now this is a priority issue. But simultaneously another global problem is deepening, and it is probably man-made. This is what I would call a cyberpandemic. I understand the cyberpandemic as a possibility of drawing humanity into cyberconfrontation and even a cyberwar," Krutskikh said during an online discussion of the Valdai Club.

The diplomat noted that signs of the cyberpandemic include hacking, cyberterrorism, and cyberinterference in private lives and the development of states, which is the consequence of the development of negative trends in improving cybertechnologies.

At the same time, Krutskikh said that the transfer of many areas of life to a remote format amid the pandemic clearly indicated the need to foster international information security.