Coronavirus: a danger even for PCs and smartphones. False instructions against infection contain Trojans and malware

It happens every time a topic becomes very popular and affects large sections of the population. If then at the basis of the circulation of information there are also feelings of fear and fear the game done. We are talking about the fact that hackers they are increasingly shrewd (and even faster) in exploiting the trending topic to inoculate viruses and malware on terminals around the world.

This is what Coronavirus looks like in reality: source CDC / Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM

Many of the less careful users, in receiving an email with an attachment named 'Instructions against Coronavirus', they may be tempted to click on the document (in fake .pdf, .mp4 or .doc format), paving the way for trojans and worms and without receiving any real information on the methodologies to avoid contagion.

The detection technologies of Kaspersky in fact, they have identified gods malicious files that looked like coronavirus related documents, confirming how cybercriminals have already boarded thecollective emotion to hit their own cyber threats.

The coronavirus, a news item that is occupying the front pages of all the media these days, has already been used as a bait by cyber criminals. So far we have only observed 10 unique files but, as often happens with topics of general interest, we expect this trend to grow. Given that this is a topic that is generating great concern among people all over the world, we are confident that we will detect more and more malware hiding behind false documents on the spread of the coronaviruYes, commented Anton Ivanov, Kaspersky's malware analyst.

Tips for protecting yourself from the threat are the usual:

• Avoid opening suspicious links. The more they boast of being exclusive or fundamental, the more suspicion must increase. Rely only on legitimate and reliable sources, possibly going to look for information, without trusting those that are magically delivered in 'super exclusive' in our inbox.
• Always look at the actual extension of the file you downloaded. An example for those less familiar with technology issues: document and video files must not be in .exe or .lnk format.

Kasperky naturally pulls the water to his mill and recommends entrust your systems to a reliable security solution, advice that, beyond the specific commercial interest, certainly acceptable. In these cases, a small distraction error can cost a lot, both to the individual and to the community, placing important attack points in the hands of cybercriminals to continue operating.

The issue of collective security is often overlooked, thinking that just a little attention is enough to stay away from this type of threat. The evolution of attack technologies, also based on social engineering techniques, makes this task increasingly difficult for users. As long as one of our loved ones or friends has fallen into the trap of cybercriminals affich very sophisticated attacks based on our personal information may be hijacked on us obtained, in fact, by digging in social networks and other platforms through the compromised profiles of people close to us.

In a nutshell, it takes a great deal of personal attention and a willingness to spread culture regarding IT security. Share these types of alerts with all those people you think are the most weak in terms of IT knowledge and help them not fall victim to these traps set up by hackers and cybercriminals.