{"id":5840,"date":"2020-03-13T02:51:04","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T02:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/?p=5840"},"modified":"2021-10-01T11:48:24","modified_gmt":"2021-10-01T10:48:24","slug":"coronavirus-scams-staying-safe-times-elevated-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/de\/blog\/coronavirus-scams-staying-safe-times-elevated-risk","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus Scams: Staying Safe in Times of Elevated Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Email phishing campaigns and malware through emails are nothing new, but when combined with something like a global coronavirus spread, the risk can be even higher\u2014adding significant digital risk on top of the physical risk of infection.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s common for phishing email and malware creators to capitalize on a current issue. After all, their job is to pique the interest of an end user enough to get them to open the email.<\/p>\n

At that point they might use a few different angles, depending on the campaign. During times like this it\u2019s critical you ensure your customers and their end users are aware of the types of scams going on. Make sure you have a communication plan to supply valid information to prevent your users from seeking other sources.<\/p>\n

For many years bad actors have employed spam, phishing, and spear phishing techniques for several end goals:<\/p>\n

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  1. Trick a user into clicking on a malware-laden attachment to infect the system. This allows an attacker to gain a foothold in a network to perform more reconnaissance and follow-on actions (including data exfiltration and ransomware deployment) within the environment.<\/li>\n
  2. Convince a user to go to a website that will execute scripts to install malware for the same reasons as above.<\/li>\n
  3. Masquerade as a charity and convince the user to donate funds or give their credit card number.<\/li>\n
  4. Impersonate the company the user works for and trick them into giving up their credentials (such as creating a look-alike Office 365 login page to give access to a document).<\/li>\n
  5. Craft the email to look like an invoice from a vendor or a message from an internal higher-up, convincing someone in accounting to pay the fraudulent invoice.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Something as front and center as the coronavirus spread presents opportunities for widespread attacks anywhere in the world. As the\u00a0actual<\/em>\u00a0virus spreads to more countries and cities, the population will be looking for up-to-date information, and a well-timed email might be all it takes for someone to fall for a scam and put their information (or the business they work for) at risk.<\/p>\n

    According to an\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0by the Wall Street Journal, these scams started in January in heavily affected areas, and are likely to pick up as the threat of infection reaches more locales.<\/p>\n

    Here are a few methods to look out for, as discussed in the article:<\/p>\n