2 min Security

Corona virus COVID-19 abused to spread malware

Corona virus COVID-19 abused to spread malware

Cybercriminals are known to exploit hypes, trends, and concerns of the public to spread malware. Security company Sophos has discovered that the coronavirus is also being abused by criminals. In doing so, it mainly responds to people’s fears.

The corona virus, also known as COVID-19, causes a great deal of concern in society. Something the criminals use in this case to spread malware. Security company Sophos has discovered that criminals have set up an e-mail campaign aimed at Italians. An attachment has been added to this e-mail, according to the e-mail the attachment contains advice on how best to protect oneself against COVID-19. In reality there is a hidden macro that infects the Windows computer with the Trickbot trojan. The Trickbot trojan is so-called banking malware and is aimed at stealing bank data, besides that the trojan can steal crypto-wallets.

Sophos warns people not to open attachments in emails from unknown people. Furthermore, a good antivirus scanner should be part of your basic security. This advice is certainly not new, it has been given for years and actually everyone knows it too. However, the reality is that because of the unrest in society around the Corona virus, people ignore this kind of advice because they want tips to protect themselves better against the virus. People react more impulsively and think less well.

Certainly, in the region of Lombardy, where thousands of people have already been infected and society has more or less come to a standstill. Now that the spread of the virus is increasing, there is a good chance that cyber criminals will focus on more regions.