Cyber Security And COVID-19

3/13/2020 (Permalink)

This public health emergency has provided an opportunity for increased cyber-attacks, phishing attempts and other scams. Please be extremely mindful when opening links or searching online. Remind your friends and family to do the same.

The CT Intelligence Center (CTIC) was recently made aware of a malicious website pretending to be a live Covid-19 infections map similar to the real map posted by John Hopkins University. 

 The fake map which is located at corona-virus-map[.]com is currently downloading harmful software onto visitors' computers. The malware, found within a file called corona.exe, carries dangerous functionality, with the ability to steal credentials, payment card numbers, cookies and sensitive browser-based data and exfiltrate that information to a command-and control server

The real online map posted by John Hopkins University has never contained any malware. 

Recommendations:

• Increased cyber awareness when searching the internet for information regarding the Covid-19 disease. 
• Users should be suspicious of emails from unknown senders, and emails that request sensitive information. 
• Users should not open email attachments from unknown senders. 
• Be aware of links shared through social media sites.