SEIZING ON CHAOS

Hackers Hitting Coronavirus Responders With ‘Password Spraying’ Attacks, Say Security Agencies

Security agencies in the U.S. and U.K. have warned that hackers are targeting national and local organizations dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Security agencies in the United Kingdom and United States have warned that malicious hackers are targeting organizations in both countries that are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a joint statement Tuesday morning saying they had seen large-scale “password spraying” campaigns against health-care bodies and medical research organizations. Security officials say national and international health-care bodies have been targeted, as well as local government agencies, with the “likely aim of gathering information related to the coronavirus outbreak.” Staff at international health-care and medical research organizations have now been urged to change any passwords that could be reasonably guessed by hackers. The NCSC and CISA warned last month that cybercriminals are exploiting the chaos of the pandemic.