Security News > 2020 > April > Yes, there's lots of COVID-19-themed scuminess around – but otherwise the level of cybercrime is the same

Yes, there's lots of COVID-19-themed scuminess around – but otherwise the level of cybercrime is the same
2020-04-22 10:10

Don Smith, the firm's senior director of cyber intelligence, told The Register: "The threat level is pretty much constant but the actors have significantly shifted their focus, their lures and their phishes to almost exclusive focus on COVID-19," adding: "But that's just the same lures and phishes that would have been coming out with a different subject matter four months ago."

"Because of the global appeal of COVID-19 and the longevity of it, everyone's kind of converged on the same theme at the same time," he said.

"Given the appearance of a huge spike in activity, there's more of a coalition of actors all using the same kind of thing to trick people."

When El Reg asked about the level of background activity, Secureworks pointed to a recent blog post setting out in more detail what it's seen since January.

One particular instance was with a Trickbot campaign that Secureworks spotted spreading in Italy in early March - at the same time that a very real-world virus was spreading.


News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/22/secureworks_phishing_coronavirus_flat/