Whether it’s extortion scams or commercial espionage, hackers and spies are jumping at the chance to take advantage of the chaos created by the coronavirus pandemic, a senior FBI official said Thursday.
In recent months, the FBI has seen daily complaints of cybercrime victims to its public website, the Internet Crime Complaint Center, go from about 1,000 reports a day to up to 3,000 or 4,000, “a good number” of which are coronavirus-related scams, said Tonya Ugoretz, deputy assistant director of cyber division of the FBI, during a live webinar hosted by the Aspen Institute’s cybersecurity program.
John Hultquist, director of intelligence analysis for private cybersecurity firm FireEye, told Yahoo News that his team is seeing similar activity. “We have definitely seen espionage that appears to be COVID-19-related,” he said during a phone interview. “These actors are definitely being tasked to gather information on organizations who are involved in the fight. We’ve seen government-type organizations being targeted.
Story continuesSome external corporate research, including from cybersecurity company VMware Carbon Black, has shown a greater than 100 percent increase in ransomware attacks in recent months. One scam the FBI and the Secret Service are particularly concerned about is related to the stimulus checks citizens will receive aimed at injecting life back into a wilting economy and helping the increasing number of unemployed. “The implementation of the $2 trillion stimulus package will provide even more criminal opportunities,” wrote Michael D’Ambrosio and Terry Wade, respectively the assistant director of the U.S.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
FBI warns companies of employees faking coronavirus test resultsIn a report, the FBI's Office of Private Sector notified members of private industry they should be on the lookout for fake doctors notes and falsified documentation from employees claiming positive Covid-19 test results
Read more »
Amazon Temporarily Suspends Operations In FranceThe move is part of a larger dispute over workplace safety amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more »
Drew Barrymore Writes Ode to Mother Earth: 'If You Take Care of Her, She Will Love You Back'Drew Barrymore penned a poem about Mother Earth amid the coronavirus pandemic on her new blog
Read more »
Coronavirus updates: Americans should prepare for 'another battle,' CDC director saysBill Gates: 'Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds...The world needs WHO now more than ever.'
Read more »