As many educational institutions implement the remote setup for students continued learning amid the pandemic, a cybersecurity threat has been soaring high that specifically targets learning individuals.

The scheme involves online learning platforms masquerading as such but are otherwise malicious websites, which pose a threat towards unwitting users. As many as 270,171 users have been affected by the scam during the second half of 2020, which is an increase of 60 percent compared to a similar time period in 2019.

On the other hand, Kaspersky’s security experts claim that around 168,550 malicious files were disseminated on the web via online learning platforms or video conferencing apps in the first-half of 2020—a rise of 20,455% from the same period in the year prior.

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Three of the platforms used include Zoom, Moodle, and Google Meet. While a similar case was also seen in virtually all online learning/video conferencing platforms, the Google Classroom remains a relatively safe option with no reports of such incident having taken place.

A large majority—or 98 percent—of the threats were not virus, but rather are adware and riskware, while the minority—or roughly 1 percent—includes Trojans.

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  1. Three of the platforms used include Zoom, Moodle, and Google Meet. While a similar case was also seen in virtually all online learning/video conferencing platforms, the Google Classroom remains a relatively safe option with no reports of such incident having taken place.