Cyber threats increased dramatically early in the pandemic, according to a new study from McAfee Labs. The security firm's threat research division saw an average of 375 new threats per minute in the first quarter, as cybercriminals exploited the pandemic through malicious apps themed on Covid-19, phishing, malware and more. McAfee's new COVID-19 Threat Report: July 2020 also found that new PowerShell malware grew 688% in the first quarter, while the total malware count increased 1,902% over the years. last four quarters. At the same time, incidents targeting the public sector, individuals, education, and industry have also increased, with nearly 47% of all publicly disclosed security incidents in the United States. Raj Samani, McAfee Fellow and Chief Scientist, provided additional insight into the report's findings in a press release: “The dominant themes of the 2020 threat landscape so far have been the rapid adaptation of cybercriminals to exploit the pandemic and the impact massive cyber attacks. What started as a trickle of phishing campaigns and the occasional malicious app quickly turned into a deluge of malicious URLs and capable threat actors exploiting the world's thirst for more information about COVID-19 as an entry mechanism into security systems. everyone.