Nokia’s Threat Intelligence Lab dealing with the COVID-19 cyber threats

Now when the CoV-2 virus is all around the world, people are a bit under the pressure of the situation. We might say that people are vulnerable now, and the stage is set for cyber criminals to exploit the situation.

 Nokia’s Threat Intelligence Lab analyzed the most common malware that is circulating the networks and identified two main types. One type is directly related to the Coronavirus outbreak and the second type relates to Corona-related phishing campaigns.

Examples of threats detected are “Corona Virus” Trojan that is targeting Windows and mimics a real map of the global locations of COVID-19 infections to trick users into downloading the malware which then steals user credentials and other personal data; CovidLock Android Ransomware Android app that pretends to give users a way to find nearby COVID-19 patients, and Android.Corona Safety Mask SMS Scam that pretends to be an app that helps users find safety masks, but later locks the device and asks the user to pay $250 in ransom in bitcoins.

Nokia’s Threat Intelligence Lab is identifying the threats as soon as they appear and thus are providing the Communications Service Providers (CSPs) the needed info to stay up-to-date with the latest developments so the right advice could be given to their customers.

Nokia did a great article on this topic, and also shared a paper detailing the threats and how to remove them which you can find here. To learn more about cyber threat linked to COVID-19 do check here: https://resources.nokia.com/asset/207324.