Experts announce emergence of “cyber coronavirus”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, a new type of fraud related to this infection has appeared on the internet, Report informs referring to RIA Novosti.

Konstantin Ignatyev, Web Content Analysts Group Manager of the Kaspersky Lab, said that scammers are actively using the coronavirus issue and send a lot of relevant spam messages and letters.

“People receive emails allegedly from WHO containing security measures that must be taken to avoid infection,” Ignatyev said. “When a user clicks on the link, he or she is redirected to a phishing site and receives an offer to share personal information that falls into the hands of attackers.”

At the same time, Luis Corrons, Avast's security evangelist, in order to combat network fraud, advises users to install security systems on their devices that can block phishing attacks “even before they can do any harm.”

In turn, Ruslan Suleymanov, the director of the Information Technology Department of ESET Russia, recommends deleting letters from unfamiliar senders.

The outbreak in China’s Wuhan city - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 7,170. Over 182,725 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 79,880 people have reportedly recovered.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.