Spies may have been among those who have to work remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, say researchers from the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service.
According to security services, foreign intelligence services have stepped up their efforts to gather intelligence online over the past year.
According to a supo researcher Veli-Pekka Kivimäki, the number of online spy sites has increased in part as the number of teleworkers has increased.
"Not all security solutions may have been fully considered as work progressed" Kivimäki told Yle’s A-Studio on Tuesday.
Travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic have also played a role in the transition to online espionage, as they have limited opportunities to collect intelligence in person, Kivimäki said.
Corporate espionage is on the rise
Speaking about A-Studio, Kivimäki said that foreign actors would be most interested in gathering information on Finland’s political decision-making and product development.
Mikko HyppönenResearch Director at F-Secure’s security company said many companies were not prepared for the security threats posed by the pandemic.
"When we didn’t all have the means to connect remotely through secure networks, companies had to make compromises," Hyppönen said.
"The information was previously physical. It was held somewhere in a certain place. You had to go there to be able to steal it. But now the information today is completely virtual. It’s information and it’s on our computers," he explained.
Cybercrime is a bigger threat
Last week, Supo published a report according to which foreign intelligence services had used the Internet routers of dozens of Finnish companies and individuals to spy.
Supon Kivimäki says that people are more likely to be victims of cybercriminals than state actors.
"Perhaps it is more of a threat profile that an individual citizen should think about. These devices must be carefully protected so that criminals cannot use them" he said.
Source: The Nordic Page