Coronavirus is affecting much of the world, and the combined fear is one of the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. But while we are facing this pandemic, some cybercriminals are taking advantage of the situation.
A new report indicates that hackers are taking advantage of people’s fear to steal their bank details and attack some government institutions. They do this by posing as the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health institutions.
A report by cyber intelligence firm Recorded Future warned that some hackers are creating fake websites and email addresses, using logos and signatures from the WHO and health institutions of some governments.
Recorded Future claims that citizens from Italy, one of the countries most affected by the outbreak in Europe, have received fake emails from accounts posing as WHO officials. These emails have attachments that include a Trojan called Trickbot, which steals account information, some might be encrypted and some not.
“Be especially wary of any email or other communications purporting to come from the CDC or WHO, even if it appears to come from a legitimate address on the official domains (cdc[.]gov and who[.]int). Many of the phishing emails used the branding and trademarks of these two organizations as part of the lure, and this trend will likely continue as the outbreak grows in the United States,” the company said.
In this scenario, the call is to be cautious with the links that are entered and suspicious emails. Also, from Recorded Future they call for public workers to only enter secure web addresses.
