Covid-19 Is Working Well For Criminals

The coronavirus pandemic have fuelled a disturbing rise in the number of cyber-attacks. As COVID-19 pushes the legitiamte economy towards recession, the cyber crime economy appears to be surging.  Furthermore, the impact of the virus has rapidly reshaped the way business is being done on the dark web, as buyers and sellers jump on the opportunity to profit from a significant chane in supply and demand.

Some criminals on the Dark Web seem to be  changing their behavior to take advantage of the special opportunities that see before them. 

Check Point Research has published a report about cyber attacks which specifically use the coronavirus pandemic. Three weeks prior to 12 May, the company recorded 192,000 coronavirus-related cyber-attacks every week, a significant 30% increase over previous weeks. During April-May 20,000 new coronavirus-related domains appeared on the Internet, and 17% of these were malicious and or suspicious.

The scale of the problem is so unprecedented that international organisations like Interpol and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have been releasing regular alerts and bulletins for the general public on covid-19 cyber-threats. Recently, Interpol’s cybercrime programme released a report, Global Landscape On Covid19 Cyberthreats, which identifies the latest modes and threats. Online scams, phishing and disruptive malware, which includes the dreaded ransomware, are the prominent modes of attack

  • “Business Email Compromise (BEC) has become the scheme of choice, involving the spoofing of supplier and client email addresses—or use of nearly identical email addresses—to conduct attacks," Interpol says. Hashtags like #WashYourCyberHands have been trending ever since to keep users up to date about the scams evolving every second.
  • Video-conferencing apps are being impersonated while platforms like Microsoft Teams and Google Meet have also been used to attract potential victims. Recently, people fell prey to phishing emails that came with the subject. “You have been added to a team in Microsoft Teams", the Check Point Research report notes. Clicking on the URL that accompanied this email would install malware on a user’s system, compromising its security. 
  • The WHO itself has been used as a decoy with receiving emails, supposedly from WHO, offering information on safety measures to avoid infection. Some users have even opened emails that claim to be a request to donate to WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The fund does exist but WHO would never mail you from, say, a Gmail account, as was the case in this instance.

The scams are not exclusivley aimed at individual users and numerous banks, real estate companies and other institutions too have been sending out SMSes and emails, asking customers to look out for suspicious calls or emails.  Phishing and other forms of cyber attacks are here to stay and next time you get an unsolicited email or a promotion campaign that looks too good to be true, think carefully before you click on it.

CheckPoint:       LiveMint:      SC Magazine:       Financial Times

You Might Also Read: 

Half Of Lockdown Remote Workers Ignore Cyber Security:

 

« Chinese Hackers Attacked EasyJet
Artificial Intelligence Takes Microsoft Jobs »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Cyber Security Supplier Directory

Cyber Security Supplier Directory

Our Supplier Directory lists 6,000+ specialist cyber security service providers in 128 countries worldwide. IS YOUR ORGANISATION LISTED?

Authentic8

Authentic8

Authentic8 transforms how organizations secure and control the use of the web with Silo, its patented cloud browser.

CSI Consulting Services

CSI Consulting Services

Get Advice From The Experts: * Training * Penetration Testing * Data Governance * GDPR Compliance. Connecting you to the best in the business.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of completely automatic, fully encrypted online, cloud backup.

CYRIN

CYRIN

CYRIN® Cyber Range. Real Tools, Real Attacks, Real Scenarios. See why leading educational institutions and companies in the U.S. have begun to adopt the CYRIN® system.

Huawei

Huawei

Huawei is a leading global ICT solutions provider. with end-to-end capabilities across the carrier networks, enterprise, consumer, and cloud computing fields.

SecureWorks

SecureWorks

SecureWorks provides intelligence-driven security solutions for organizations to prevent, detect, rapidly respond and predict cyberattacks.

IntSights

IntSights

IntSights is an intelligence driven security provider offering rapid, accurate cyberthreat intelligence and incident mitigation in real time

Tevora

Tevora

Tevora is a specialized management consultancy focused on cyber security, risk, and compliance services.

Endian

Endian

Endian’s mission is to provide a secure platform that connects distributed people and things, simplifying the digitalization of businesses.

Senseon

Senseon

Senseon’s multiple threat-detection senses work together to detect malicious activity across an organisation’s entire digital estate, covering the gaps that single point solutions create.

SGBox

SGBox

SGBox is a highly flexible and scalable solution for IT security. Choose the modules which your company needs and implement it without any modification to your network infrastructure.

Cloudentity

Cloudentity

Cloudentity combines Identity for all things with API and Application security in a unique deployment model, combining cloud-transformation and legacy systems.

At-Bay

At-Bay

At-Bay offer an end-to-end solution to cyber risk with comprehensive risk assessment, a tailored cyber insurance policy and year-long, active, risk-management service.

Panorays

Panorays

Panorays automates third-party security lifecycle management. It is a SaaS-based platform, with no installation needed.

SecAlliance

SecAlliance

SecAlliance is a cyber threat intelligence product and services company.

Digital Silence

Digital Silence

Digital Silence is a world-class provider of information security research and consulting services.

Zyston

Zyston

Zyston's solutions provide end-to-end management of your cybersecurity needs. Our range of services help protect your business where it needs it the most.

PT Kubus Hitam Indonesia

PT Kubus Hitam Indonesia

Kubus Hitam are a research-based company focused on cyber security. we strongly believe that innovation and safety are the two keywords for the future business market.

CYGNVS

CYGNVS

CYGNVS is a guided cyber crisis response platform providing anytime, anyplace access. A SaaS platform for cyber crisis management – a safe way to connect and control your response.

Saffron Networks

Saffron Networks

Saffron Networks is an ISO-certified company. We assure our clients of reliable solutions, specifically with the Security landscape and Enterprise Networking.