Criminal organisations are targeting medical research facilities with Covid-19 themed phishing emails, fake mobile apps, and fake web advertising.
Common themes include world outbreak maps, where to buy N-95 face masks, and communications fraudulently claiming to come from the World Health Organisation.
These emails, fake apps, and adverts contain ransomware that destroys critical research data, while also uploading that data to the dark web.
A UK medical research facility has already been hit by such an attack.
In our case, criminals are targeting home workers, who are no longer protected by the University’s firewall, and are using devices that may not provide the same level of protection as University devices.
We’ve published some guidance on how to protect yourself, and your important work, against these social engineering attacks and malicious software.