Security News > 2021 > March > Scammers tried slurping folks' login details through 70,000 coronavirus-themed phishing URLs during 2020
Cybercriminals ruthlessly exploited the coronavirus pandemic to set up phishing websites that posed as Pfizer, BioNTech and other household-name suppliers of vaccines and PPE, according to Palo Alto Networks.
In a post published today, Palo Alto's Unit 42 threat intel division said COVID-themed phishing lure URLs "Largely centered around Personal Protective Equipment and testing kits in March 2020, government stimulus programs from April through the summer 2020 and vaccines from late fall 2020 onward."
Unit 42 reckoned Microsoft was the most impersonated brand targeted by phishing criminals, with Redmond-themed pages being set up to steal credentials from employees of US grocery firm Walgreens, Canadian drug manufacturer Pharmascience, India's Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and more - including a Chinese pharma firm.
Most of these lures, said the firm, were attempting to steal users' "Business credentials", saying: "These business-related phishing attempts have become an increasingly important attack vector for cybercriminals."
A phishing site set-up later in 2020 posed as a corporate presence for BioNTech and Pfizer, the vaccine makers, asking users to log in with Office 365 credentials in order to register for vaccination.
Last year email security firm Mimecast warned of a COVID-themed flight refund scam doing the rounds, while GitLab redteamed the problem, testing its own workforce's susceptibility to phishing.