EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Across the world, more than 170 teams of researchers are vying to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine. The University of Oxford, and Moderna, a Massachusetts-based biotech company, recently announced phase III, clinical trials.

Cyber criminals are eager to exploit people’s fears, uncertainty and excitement around a potential coronavirus vaccine. Recently, hackers devised a malspam campaign containing the subjectline “URGENT INFORMATION LETTER: COVID-19 APPROVED VACCINES.” The emails contained a malicious .EXE file titled, “Download_Covid 19 New approved vaccines.23.07.2020.exe.”

In another recent example of hackers’ eagerness to exploit society’s frayed nerves, hackers launched phishing email campaign with the subjectline, “UK coronavirus vaccine effort is progressing badly appropriate, recruiting consequence and elder adults.” The email pointed users towards a medial website that mirrored the look of Canadian Pharmacy’s site. The hackers’ site was solely intended for phishing purposes.

Top: Fake logo. Bottom: Authentic logo.

 Improve your organization’s ability to block email-based attacks. Here’s how:

• Obtain advanced email security from a reputable cyber security vendor. Working with little-known industry players and open-source solutions may lead to more confusion and challenges than you would otherwise encounter with a mid-sized or larger cyber security group.

• Ensure that your organization uses mobile and endpoint browsing security that automatically prevents users from accessing phishing websites.

• Require IT teams to implement 2FA in order for employees to change any information pertaining to organizational accounts.

Get other tips here.