Cyber-criminals are seeing the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to exploit the public’s fears and anxiety.  They are now weaponizing these feelings into cyber-attacks. 

In fact, the US Department of Health and Human Services has already been targeted in a cyber-attack that is believed to have been unsuccessful at taking down systems and stealing data. 

Keeping all of this in mind, we would like to share with you the US Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber-Infrastructure (CISA) alert outlining a few key areas to focus on as these attacks ramp up. 

Here are the key points:

1. Whenever you see an email or attachment referring to COVID-19 or Coronavirus, be extra careful.  These kinds of phishing attacks may be more difficult to identify.

2. Use trusted sources for direct information about the pandemic, such as government agencies or major media outlets.

3. As you should always do, be wary of providing personal information in email.

4. Verify the legitimacy of charities before engaging with them.

The full alert can be found at https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2020/03/06/defending-against-covid-19-cyber-scams. 

Please feel free to reach out to us should you have questions about cyber-scams and attacks during this unprecedented time.  We are here to help you.