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With new COVID-19 scam sites being launched daily, business leaders are tasked with ramping up cybersecurity. The time is now to enlist a third-party expert.
While billions of people around the world combat the pandemic, despicable cybercriminals design thousands of COVID-19 scam sites to breach personal devices and business networks. Recent reports indicate that hackers are ramping up their nefarious efforts by launching maliciously-laced coronavirus websites by the thousands.
According to a list compiled by a cybersecurity specialist published online, upwards of 3,600 coronavirus domains were launched over four days in March. The previous month averaged only about 10 per day.
“ZDNet has spent the past two days looking at some of these domains, at random. While we found some legitimate sites here and there, in nine out of ten cases, we found a scam site peddling fake cures, or private sites, most likely used for malware distribution only to users with a specific referral header,” according to Catalin Cimpanu.
These themed scam sites are hubs to launch phishing and financial fraud schemes. Many websites offer phony COVID-19 vaccines, immunity boosters, and overnight test kits, among others. While new scam sites tended to be relatively passive and commonplace, cybercriminals are adapting to the fact that people are catching on to their methods.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread globally, digital thieves routinely targeted individuals and businesses where outbreaks occurred. The conventional thinking was that people were vulnerable due to fear, lack of information, and gaps in cybersecurity. These are commonly used scams that officials and cybersecurity experts have uncovered.
Digital thieves discovered long ago that endpoint device vulnerabilities often provide cybersecurity gaps that can be leveraged for profit. That’s mostly why hackers are targeting business networks by employing complex schemes to build a worker’s confidence enough to go to a website, input personal data, and click on a link. According to mobile malware analyst Lukas Stefanko, Android users are seeing a concerted effort by hackers to insert ransomware in devices.
Government agencies are also keenly aware that cybercriminals are profiteering from human suffering. Both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have issued warnings about coronavirus scams. The FTC website offers these cybersecurity guidelines to avoid COVID-19 breaches.
Business leaders are urged to update and implement disaster recovery strategies, secure endpoint devices, and enhance remote workforce cybersecurity. The impact of COVID-19 scams could prove fatal for companies struggling through the health crisis.
BIOS Technologies’ mission is to deliver superior IT support to the SMB market in the New Orleans Metro Area. We focus on companies that understand the business/security risks of unmanaged technology and want to maximize efficiency and profitability.
March 29,2020
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