SecureLogix on Alert for Coronavirus-Related Attacks

As millions began working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, local cybersecurity expert David Heard started noticing his company’s workload pick up.

Heard serves as the chief marketing officer for San Antonio-based SecureLogix, a company that helps protects corporate clients from “call attacks” – robocalls or spoof calls from criminals trying to steal information. Over the course of 2019, SecureLogix blocked about 100,000 call attacks for one of its clients, a major national insurance provider, Heard said. In just the first few months of 2020, SecureLogix has had to block 140,000 call attacks for the same client.

Knowing potential victims are more stressed right now because of the virus has led to an increase in attacks, Heard said. As companies await Paycheck Protection Program funding, and individuals try to continue to make ends meet in an economic downturn, criminals are trying to take advantage of everyone’s online vulnerability, he said.

“Cybersecurity threats are spiking globally, and we are identifying and blocking a striking increase in attacks against our customer enterprise and contact center phone lines,” said Heard, who is also CEO of Tech Bloc, the local tech sector’s advocacy group.

Another of SecureLogix’s clients, a global financial institution, has seen call attacks increase more than 1,500 percent over the past month, Heard said. A third client, a national health care provider network, has experienced a 55 percent increase in call attacks during just the past three weeks.

It’s not only big companies SecureLogix is seeing attacked more often, Heard said. A regional hospital network that uses SecureLogix has seen a 300 percent increase in call attacks. In February, just 3 percent of its inbound calls were attacks, whereas in April that number is up to 10 percent, Heard said.