The prevalence of fraudulent activity has increased during the
COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020 alone, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reported 70,948
cases of fraud, with $108.8M lost to fraud. Between March 6, 2020,
and March 31, 2021 alone, $7.25M was lost to COVID-19 fraud
specifically. Malicious actors have exploited the increased
reliance on technology during the pandemic, as well as people's
heightened anxiety and vulnerabilities to launch their attacks,
costing individuals and companies both financial and psychological
distress.
In a survey conducted by the Conference Board
of Canada about cyber-threat awareness at the workplace, while most
respondents seemed confident in their employee's ability to
recognize risks, 15% of respondents still said that their workforce
does not know enough about cyber threats. Because of the pandemic,
many organizations have adopted new technology at an increased rate
(remote collaboration software, cloud technologies, etc.), and
