As the fears of Coronavirus infection spread are gripping the world at a fast pace, hackers are seen using every opportunity to dupe victims in the disguise of services and products about Covid-19; and here’s one such instance-
A team of Cybersecurity researchers from DomainTools has identified that some hackers are seen promoting a mobile app that is intended to help its users track down a Wuhan Virus-infected victim once they are in their vicinity using heatmap visuals.
But researchers say that the application is a disguise of a malware spreading mobile app which when downloaded points the users towards a website named Coronavirusapp.site facilitating the installation of ransomware named CovidLock.
CovidLock is a ransomware which instantaneously downloads the file-encrypting malware from the website and then locks down the data of the infected smartphone until a $100 ransom is paid in BTC. And if the victim fails to do so within 48 hours, then the malware is caught deleting all pictures, contacts, SMSes, and videos stored on the phone.
What’s interesting in this whole ransomware spread saga is that the website is certified by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to separate research carried out by CheckPoint, since Jan’2020 over 4000 domains were registered on a global note in the name of offering advice, services, info, and products related to Coronavirus. And out of them over 3% are deemed to be malevolent and 5% of them are described as suspicious.
In other news that is related to Coronavirus and ransomware, the Brno University Hospital based in Brno, Czech Republic is reported to have been hit by a ransomware attack.
Highly placed sources say that the hospital was assigned the duty of investigating Coronavirus related blood samples coming from the whole of Central Europe. And due to cyber attacks, the testing laboratory’s digital services have come to a grinding halt.
All services related to surgeries have been disrupted or re-routed to the emergency unit of St. Anne’s University Hospital.
Reports are in that the IT staffs of the hospital along with a team of experts from the Czech National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) along with Czech Police were busy investigating and containing the spread of the ransomware.
