“You Are Infected” – Bad Guys Launch an Evil New Corona Virus Attack – PLUS – Zoom Bombing!
Malicious actors continue to craft ruthlessly aggressive, evil email attacks tailored to leverage our mounting fears and anxieties surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic among employees in the office and at home.
In the latest Coronavirus-themed phishing email reported to KnowBe4 by customers using the Phish Alert Button (PAB), bad guys try to exploit the very worst fear among email recipients: the fear of infection.
Hitting the Panic Button
Late Friday night March 27, 2020, we spotted a new phishing email warning the recipients that they have been exposed to the Coronavirus through personal contact with a “colleague/friend/family member” and directing them to download a malicious attachment and proceed immediately to the hospital. This email is simple, succinct, and very alarming.
Moreover, it spoofs a hospital, lending additional credibility to this particular social engineering scheme, which is clearly designed to elicit a panicked response from readers and override any form of rational, measured thought.
The attached Excel file is billed as a “pre-filled” form that victims should bring with them to the hospital. In fact, that form is a malicious, macro-laden Office document that is at the time of this report detected by only a handful of major anti-virus applications. This malware’s capabilities are incredibly sophisticated and dangerous.
Don’t fall for these sophisticated scam emails. Always stop and think why would you be getting this particular email from an entity (in this case a “hospital”) who more than likely would never even have your email address. A little thought can save you from a ton of aggravation.
As individuals continue the transition to online lessons and meetings, the FBI recommends exercising due diligence and caution in your cybersecurity efforts. The following steps can be taken to mitigate teleconference hijacking threats:
Do not make meetings or classrooms public. In Zoom, there are two options to make a meeting private: require a meeting password or use the waiting room feature and control the admittance of guests.
Do not share a link to a teleconference or classroom on an unrestricted publicly available social media post. Provide the link directly to specific people.
Manage screensharing options. In Zoom, change screensharing to “Host Only.”
Ensure users are using the updated version of remote access/meeting applications. In January 2020, Zoom updated their software. In their security update, the teleconference software provider added passwords by default for meetings and disabled the ability to randomly scan for meetings to join.
Lastly, ensure that your organization’s telework policy or guide addresses requirements for physical and information security.
