Hackers Are Using Coronavirus Fears To Hack Your Computer
The spreading of coronavirus around the globe has led hackers to use this opportunity to spread malicious strain of software viruses and malware. The raise in infection rates by the coronavirus has allowed hackers to step up their operations. The attackers are using people’s fears and lack of information to spread their viruses in malicious emails. Security experts have uncovered multiple email scams to take advantage of people’s anxiety about the coronavirus.
Experts from Kaspersky and IBM have discovered that hackers are disguising viruses embedded in legitimate information about coronavirus that would be of interest to the users. Hackers are sending out multiple email spams to people in hopes of infecting smartphones and computers with malware. These email scams report that the country and city has been infiltrated and urge the receiver to open an email attachments to learn more about the coronavirus threat in the area.
Once a link is clicked on an attachment is downloaded, the virus gains access to the users computer or smartphones, which is essentially a portable computer. This approach has been more successful recently than previous email scams, because people’s natural fear of being infected and coming into contact with coronavirus. Hackers often use current news to amplify the events by using compelling verbiage to get people to click on links and attachments. Since coronavirus is the only primary topic in the news people are naturally drawn to these types of emails in their effort to educate themselves in the hopes of preventing infection. Hackers will always use events that are prevalent in the news to get users to click on their emails. They refine their approach often to track their email campaigns to see which emails were opened in the past, and adjust them for better performance.
Keep in mind that hackers can use logos, formatting, buttons, and other attributes that do not belong to them. For example, the UPS or other delivery service is often used to trick users into opening malicious attachments. The attached files might even be compressed and not seem like executables. Computer users are advised to never allow a macro function from an email to run on your system. These macros can execute malicious commands, that would allow the attachment to download the payload of malware.
Spam emails remain the leading cause of viruses and malware infections worldwide. In many cases, hackers compile email lists that only include a couple of words and an attachment or an embedded link. However, some email scams are extremely sophisticated, so users might get easily tricked. This is why security experts advise always being vigilant when checking your Inbox, creating secure passwords, or surfing the web.