CORONA‘VIRUS’ AFFECTING COMPUTERS TOO

As it is turning out, coronavirus is affecting not just humans but computers as well.

Antivirus experts from Kaspersky have found malicious files disguised as documents related to newly discovered coronavirus corrupting computers. People, worried about the virus, which has caught the attention of the world, are ending up clicking the malware documents thinking they contain information about the virus.

The discovered malicious files come masked within pdf, mp4, and docx files on coronavirus. The names of files imply that they contain video instructions on how to protect yourself from the virus, updates on the threat, and even virus detection procedures.

The fact is that these files contained a range of threats from Trojans to worms, which are capable of destroying, blocking, modifying or copying data, as well as interfering with the operation of computers or computer networks.

Kaspersky malware analyst Anton Ivanov observed, “Coronavirus, which is being widely discussed as a major news story, has already been used as bait by cybercriminals. So far, we have seen only 10 unique files. As this sort of activity often happens with popular media topics, we expect that coronavirus files may grow. With people continuing to be worried of their health, we could see more and more malware being spread hidden inside fake documents on coronavirus,” Mr Ivanov added.

Malware experts say computer users must avoid suspicious links promising exclusive content. Users can refer to official sources for trustworthy and legitimate information. People must also look at extension of the files downloaded. Documents and video files should not have either .exe or .lnk formats.