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COVID-19-themed cyber attacks becoming more sophisticated: Interpol

While much has been written about cyber criminals using COVID-19-themed phishing techniques to con individuals and businesses, Interpol said in a new report that since the pandemic spread around the world, there has also been a major rise in the use of disruptive malware, malicious domains, data harvesting malware, and DDoS attacks by cyber criminals.

Interpol said that lured by the potential for high impact and financial benefit, cyber criminals are now using disruptive malware and ransomware against critical infrastructure and healthcare institutions, with a majority of hackers estimating quite accurately the maximum amount of ransom they could demand from targeted organisations.

Using COVID-19 related information as a lure, hacker groups are also injecting data harvesting malware such as Remote Access Trojan, info stealers, spyware and banking Trojans into corporate IT networks to compromise networks, steal data, divert money and build botnets.

Since the pandemic took shape, Interpol also observed a major rise in the setting up of fraudulent and malicious web domains that have COVID-19-related keywords such as coronavirus or COVID. Between February and March, A private sector partner of Interpol reported a 569 percent growth in malicious registrations, including malware and phishing and a 788 percent growth in high-risk domain registrations.

Between January and April, Interpol's private sector partners also observed as many as 907,000 spam messages, 737 incidents related to malware, and 48,000 malicious URLs that were related to COVID-19.

Cybercriminals are developing and boosting their attacks at an alarming pace, exploiting the fear and uncertainty caused by the unstable social and economic situation created by COVID-19, said Jrgen Stock, Secretary General of Interpol.

The increased online dependency for people around the world, is also creating new opportunities, with many businesses and individuals not ensuring their cyber defences are up to date.

While phishing scams formed 59 percent of all cyber threats since the arrival of the coronavirus, malware and ransomware infections formed 36 percent, malicious domains formed 22 percent, and 14 percent of threats were instances of misinformation and fake news related to the pandemic.

He has previously written news articles, device reviews and features for Mobile Choice UK website and magazine, as well as writing extensively for SC Magazine UK, Tech Radar, Indian Express, and Android Headlines.

Original article