It seems that hackers are never complacent and are now even taking advantage of the fear created by the coronavirus to spread the Emotet malwarevia email. As experts from IBM X-Force stated, malicious actors are using the new epidemic to send spam emails to residents of Japan.
As Tech Republic, the spam emails appear to come from the government and have valid addresses, phone numbers, and email IDs. The message in the email claims that the coronavirus has spread in the country and is soon going to cause chaos, so it advises the victim to open an attached file that gives more information about the virus.
When the user opens the document, it triggers a series of commands that download the Emotet malware to their computer. Once the malware is installed on the system, the malicious user can gain access to the victim's computer and steal personal information or even carry out a ransomware.
Kaspersky security researchers have discovered a number of cases where hackers have used the new virus to terrorize their victims and spread the Emotet malware. Hackers are adding .mp4, .pdf, and .docx file attachments to emails claiming to have relevant information about the coronavirus.
Until now, a security analyst at Kaspersky, Anton Ivanov, has discovered 10 unique files. As he claims, these activities will cause more hackers and the number of attacks will increase in the coming days.
While the World Health Organization has declared a state of emergency regarding the coronavirus, as it may soon evolve into a pandemic and all health officials are trying to provide valid and relevant information about the virus, malicious actors are using this situation to launch attacks against people, exploiting their fear of the coronavirus.
