According to a Bloomberg report, hackers around the world are taking advantage of the fear of coronavirus to maliciously advance espionage tactics and cause panic and confusion, posing as organizations like the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Organization World Healthcare (WHO).
How hackers work
BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, a cybersecurity company, reported a real situation in which hackers pretended to be members of the CDC by sending an email to a South Korean electronics company with a line of object that read “Re: nCoV: coronavirus outbreak and security measures in your city (urgent). "
"This is not surprising, we call it lure de jure," said Adrian Nish, head of intelligence on threats to BAE. "I think many of these groups have identified coronavirus as a subject on which their victims would be desperate for information."
The e-mail has been modified so that it appears to have been sent by "CDC-Health-INFO" and came from the e-mail address of a United States diplomat. In fact, the real sender was a food company in South Korea, but it is not known whether the company was hacked.
"Please kindly download the updated attachment for your knowledge," says the email. "Please review the data provided to avoid potential dangers." If the recipients had actually downloaded the attachments, their computers would probably have been infected with a "remote access Trojan", which would have given hackers control of the computer and perhaps also of the network.
"Threat actors are social engineering experts," said Nish. He predicts that there will be many more such attacks during the crisis we are experiencing.Another email, apparently sent by the WHO and the Ministry of Health in Ukraine, erroneously claimed that there were five confirmed positive covid-19 cases in Ukraine .
But the email was just a bait to hide malware that would have logged keystrokes, potentially passwords or other private information.
Investments and cryptocurrencies targeted by hackers
Last Wednesday, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sent out an alert regarding malicious online activities that are exploiting the coronavirus. "These scams take many forms and could relate to insurance policies, pension transfers or high-yield investment opportunities, including investments in cryptocurrencies," said the warning.
“The scammers are sophisticated, opportunistic and will make several attempts. They are also very likely to target the most vulnerable users. Now more than ever, pay attention to investments that seem too good to be true.
If you decide invest in something that offers a high return or in a cryptoasset, do not neglect to make appropriate checks and research regarding the target or the carrier for your investment. "
