Security News

Several cybersecurity companies have spotted campaigns that use coronavirus-themed emails to deliver malware, phishing attempts and scams. The malicious emails warn potential victims about the impact of the coronavirus on the shipping industry.

As fears about the coronavirus continue to spread, cybercriminals are using the health crisis to send phishing emails using a variety of tactics to a broader range of targets. In late January, IBM X-Force researchers discovered a first wave of phishing scams that targeted some regions in Japan to spread the Emotet Trojan, as well as other malware, by using malicious messages that appear to contain information about coronavirus.

PayPal came in first of the 25 most impersonated brands in phishing attacks for the fourth quarter of 2019, according to a report released Tuesday by Vade Secure. Though PayPal-impersonated phishing attacks fell by 31% compared with the third quarter, the volume of such attacks rose by 23% from the last quarter of 2018.

PayPal remains the top brand impersonated in phishing attacks for the second quarter in a row, with Facebook taking the #2 spot and Microsoft coming in third, according to Vade Secure. For the second straight quarter, PayPal was the most impersonated brand in phishing attacks.

Several law firms are racing to be among the first to file class action lawsuits against PIH Health in the wake of the California-based regional healthcare network reporting last month that a 2019 phishing breach affected nearly 200,000 individuals. Since Jan. 30, at least three law firms have issued public statements announcing they are "Investigating" the data breach reported on Jan. 10 by PIH Health and inviting victims of the incident to contact the firms with information about the impact.

A recently uncovered phishing campaign, targeting PayPal users, pulls out all the stops and asks victims for the complete spectrum of personal data - even going so far as to ask for social security numbers and uploaded photos of their passports. Some parts of the phishing email make strange use of exclamation points - For instance, the top of the email says "PayPal Notifications Center !" and the phishing link button reads, "Secure and update my account now !".

Last week, IBM and Kaspersky caught hackers in Japan trying to spread malware through emails with links about the coronavirus outbreak that started in Wuhan, China, in January. Now, Kaspersky and Sophos have found phishing emails from cybercriminals purporting to be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization that are attempts to steal email credentials and other information.

A new phishing campaign is attempting to deliver sophisticated malware that can completely hijack an Android mobile device to steal user credentials, install a keylogger and even hold a device's data for ransom. Researchers at Cofense, who discovered the campaign, said the malware targets more than 250 Android apps with tailored login overlay screens used to capture credentials inputted into the apps.

The newly detailed phishing attack, Certfa Lab says, is related to previously observed activity targeting a U.S. presidential candidate, government officials, media targets, and prominent expatriate Iranians, where the hackers employed an updated spear phishing technique. As part of the campaign, the threat actor created a fake account impersonating New York Times journalist Farnaz Fassihi journalist), to send fake interview invitations to victims and trick them into accessing phishing websites.

The study does not say whether the phishing emails that targeted Kasraie and others were successful in compromising their passwords and other credentials, and a spokesperson for Certfa says that the campaign has not been successful, although not all victims may have come forward yet. One of the tipoffs that these emails were phishing lures is that Fassihi recently moved to the New York Times and wouldn't be seeking interviews with subjects for the Journal, according to the report.