Beware of Phishing in times of Covid-19: Ajay Data

Data Ingenious Global advises that Emails calling on a sense of urgency, unsolicited advisory, donations or have an alarmist tone should not be hastily acted upon, with this being a decoy to trick people

by Priya Jadhav

March, 2020 :Got a mail saying Covid-19 is now airborne? Beware. Hackers are in a hyperactive mode to trick people and create misinformation. Data Ingenious Global Limited, a pioneer in IT Services in India with expertise in Internet, Networking, Web Technology, and Software consultancy has called for safeguarding against phishing (cybercrime) in times of disastrous outbreak of Covid-19. The IT major has advised people to ignore emails that call on a sense of urgency, unsolicited advisory, donations or have an alarmist tone should not be hastily acted upon, with this being a decoy to trick people

Founder and CEO of Data Ingenious Global Dr Ajay Data said, “Hackers are going into overdrive during the outbreak of Covid-19 and therefore the most effective way to protect against phishing in the times of Covid-19 pandemic is to be vigilant while working online. Apart from the individual, the company data are also on stake.”

Hackers are Capitalising on fear and panic due to coronavirus and they are financially motivated attackers to exploit the disease to spread malware to steal data from unsuspecting users.

“Emails with attachments, originating from unknown sources can be cyber attacks. First of all, we need to avoid downloading such attachments coming from unknown sources. There may be emails from domains similar to the World Health Organisation (WHO) or other health organisations with malicious downloads. These downloads can release malware that infects the system. These emails also prompt to manually enter email login details, resulting in users unwittingly compromising their data,” said Dr Data.  

Even WHO had released a notification that implored people to beware of hackers posing as organisation representatives and verify their authenticity before giving away any details via email, websites, text messages, and even phone calls.

Cyber attacks range from Clipboard stealing to several other threats such as tax-related scams, donation to help fight, vaccine-related information; job-related fake advertisements, and payments through Bitcoins among others. Hackers are also using fear-mongering tactics that aim to encourage clicks and downloads. Covid-19 is now airborne is their new prank.

“Hackers send Phishing Link to people via email or message. Users are tempted to clicks on this link and that lands them to the Phishing Page which gives an impression of an original website and users log in there with security ID and Password. Once users do that their ID and Password go to the hacker and the users do not even know that they have been the victim of Phishing Attack,” warns Dr Data.

Tips to avoid a phishing attack

Be alert to avoid to be a victim

Implement security solutions that protect the company’s email environment

Managed service providers, such as Data Ingenious, offer a range of best of security solutions which are specifically designed to mitigate the risk of phishing attacks

Do not click on any unknown link and do not enter your information in any unknown link.

Ensure that your software on your PC is up-to-date

Never give out your personal information unless it is to a verified source

Emails received should continually be examined for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes

One should give the email sender’s display name a closer look to inspect the email’s legitimacy

Beware of emails that ask for personal information from the onset