Corona Virus In Your Click

Corona virus In Your Click

Fake coronavirus news is spreading faster than the virus itself. The pressure on social media and other online platforms to stem the tide has become irresistible. But because any message headlined “coronavirus” is likely to be widely picked up, there is now another danger to watch for. Cyber criminals developing highly dangerous malware campaigns to target millions of us under cover of the looming pandemic.

One such campaign has now been exposed: A malware-laced message carrying false advice and a hidden threat, so widely emailed that it quickly reached a staggering 10% of the organizations in Italy, the coronavirus-hit country it first targeted.

As we change our behaviours and adapt to the reality of everyday life in early 2020, coronavirus has become a debate about the stats—infection rates, case fatality ratio, age breakdowns, incubation and isolation periods. So, while you’re thinking stats, here are some more: cyber criminals are setting up websites and campaigns as fast as they can. According to Check Point, “the malicious rate of coronavirus-related domains is 50% higher than the overall rate of all domains registered over the same time period, and even higher than recent seasonal themes such as Valentine’s day.”

Criminals are using concerns about the coronavirus epidemic to spread infections of their own.

They are forging emails mentioning the outbreak that appear to be from business partners or public institutions in an effort to get users to open the messages, unleashing malware.

The number of malicious emails mentioning the coronavirus has increased significantly since the end of January, according to cybersecurity firm Proofpoint Inc., which is monitoring the activity. The company recently assigned an analyst to track coronavirus threats, something it hasn’t done for prior hacking campaigns related to disasters or major public events, said Sherrod DeGrippo, Proofpoint’s senior director of threat research and detection. Proofpoint analysts now see multiple email campaigns mentioning the coronavirus every workday.

“We don’t typically see events like that. Natural disasters are very localized; events like the Olympics come and go and I think something like the Olympics doesn’t get the clicks that a health scare would,” she said.

The dearth of information about the epidemic, along with plenty of conflicting claims, provides an opening for criminals, said Ryan McConnell, founder of R. McConnell Group PLLC, a law firm in Houston.

Malware and email viruses that use Coronavirus-themed lures to trick people have spread to over a dozen countries, according to security firm Proofpoint.

The company also observed that attackers are beginning to register URLs and create fake websites relating to Coronavirus in order to carry out malicious activity.

"Global events often capture the world's attention with a combination of wide recognition and a sense of urgency, But they are also unfortunately likely candidates for threat actor campaigns."

The emails being circulated come with a document attached that appears to contain an urgent message relating to new developments with the virus's spread.