Hackers Create Fake Coronavirus Websites to Steal Your Data

We all know (or at least we should do) that the internet can be a dangerous place. With the current concerns surrounding the Coronavirus, however, it shouldn’t be forgotten that it’s also a pretty dodgy place outdoors as well. As you might expect, however, with the growth of the virus, many people have been checking out websites that are specifically tracking the spread of COVID-19 worldwide.

In a report via TheNextWeb, however, it seems that if you are one of those people, you may need to be careful.

Hackers Create Fake Coronavirus Websites

In the report, a security researcher at ‘Reason Labs’ has found that a number of websites have popped up that are doing more than just tracking the spread of the virus. When visiting the page, you are prompted to make a download of the application.

Essentially piggybacking (or, perhaps more accurately, imitating) legitimate websites, you (of course) don’t need to download anything for it to work. So, what’s actually in the download? Well, as you might have guessed, it’s (semi-ironically) a virus. One that hackers have created to specifically harvest data from your PC. This includes browser activity and credit card information (via keyloggers).

What Can I Do?

Well, the easiest suggestion is that if you are visiting such websites, don’t download anything. Trust me, the legitimate ones will not ask you to do it and the application should run perfectly fine within the browser itself.

If you are asked to download a file though, run for the hills! If you don’t, you might suddenly feel the need to stock up on virtual toilet paper!

What do you think? Have you encountered any websites such as this? – Let us know in the comments!