Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Warning about a spike in cybercrime related to Covid-19....
Found on the rolling coronavirus coverage at The Guardian UK:
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/apr/08/coronavirus-live-news-us-trump-threatens-who-funding-uk-boris-johnson-global-cases-latest-updates
Alex Hern, Guardian’s UK Technology Editor
Excerpt:
The British and American cybersecurity agencies have issued a joint warning about a spike in cybercrime related to Covid, as attackers take advantage weaknesses in remote working set-ups to hack, phish and scam people in self-isolation, Alex Hern, the Guardian’s UK technology editor, reports.
In the advisory, jointly issued by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre and the US’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, internet users are warned to watch out for “emails containing malware which appear to have come from the Director-General of the World Health Organization, and others which claim to offer thermometers and face masks to fight the pandemic.” The agencies have also found cyber criminals “scanning for vulnerabilities in software and remote working tools”, aiming to exploit the absence of corporate IT protections to hack weak links in businesses.
Popular videoconferencing tool Zoom is one such tool, and interest in hacking techniques that could be used against it is “sky high”, according to one report in Vice. Successful attacks against the software, and other videoconferencing services, could be used to enable successful corporate espionage. “Industrial espionage is making millions now. Zoom, GTM, WebEx…all meetings where you needed an insider to get in before,” a source told Vice News.
Other Coronavirus-related scams are less high-tech. Security researchers at McAfee found one posting on a dark web forum where an individual claiming to have recovered from Coronavirus selling their blood to others. For just $1,000, the user offered a sample of their blood or saliva, which could be used harvested for antibodies – if they’re telling the truth.
In the advisory, jointly issued by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre and the US’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, internet users are warned to watch out for “emails containing malware which appear to have come from the Director-General of the World Health Organization, and others which claim to offer thermometers and face masks to fight the pandemic.” The agencies have also found cyber criminals “scanning for vulnerabilities in software and remote working tools”, aiming to exploit the absence of corporate IT protections to hack weak links in businesses.
Popular videoconferencing tool Zoom is one such tool, and interest in hacking techniques that could be used against it is “sky high”, according to one report in Vice. Successful attacks against the software, and other videoconferencing services, could be used to enable successful corporate espionage. “Industrial espionage is making millions now. Zoom, GTM, WebEx…all meetings where you needed an insider to get in before,” a source told Vice News.
Other Coronavirus-related scams are less high-tech. Security researchers at McAfee found one posting on a dark web forum where an individual claiming to have recovered from Coronavirus selling their blood to others. For just $1,000, the user offered a sample of their blood or saliva, which could be used harvested for antibodies – if they’re telling the truth.
I hope companies, but particularly our school systems, have solid security provisions in place and are supporting their employees to insure the equipment they use at home is secure. My daughter, a teacher, is using such videoconferencing provisions at home every day for remote teaching. My son is just starting his next quarter in college with everything on-line, using a laptop, smartphone and tablet. That's a lot of potentially vulnerable electronics.
KY..........
