Google Warns of Coronavirus Phishing through Government Backed Websites

Coronavirus Phishing Attacks through Government Backed Free Food Websites – Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG), which tracks state-backed hackers, says one group has started using free meals and coupons supposedly from fast-food franchises to lure US government workers into exposing their Gmail credentials. Google has once again reiterated some security tips during coronavirus pandemic.

Google has said that their security systems have detected examples ranging from fake solicitations for charities and NGOs, to messages that try to mimic employer communications to employees working from home, to websites posing as official government pages and public health agencies.

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Google systems spotted over 18 million phishing attempts related to COVID-19 daily.

“Our systems have also spotted malware-laden sites that pose as sign-in pages for popular social media accounts, health organizations, and even official coronavirus maps. During the past couple of weeks, our advanced, machine-learning classifiers have seen 18 million daily malware and phishing attempts related to COVID-19, in addition to more than 240 million COVID-related spam message,” Google’s blog read.

Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has specifically identified over a dozen government-backed attacker groups using COVID-19 themes as lure for phishing and malware attempts—trying to get their targets to click malicious links and download files.

Google also assured that over 99.9 per cent malware was blocked by its machines but people would need that extra precaution while being online during work from home or otherwise.

Google says most of the time phishing emails or messages reach you through an urgent message like this: “URGENT MESSAGE ABOUT COVID-19”. Below is the screenshot attached from Google Blog. It also advises people to cross-check the link before clicking it.

Input by Google Blog