(Photo : Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay )

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

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Hackers are using the coronavirus as a way of getting into your system without you knowing it. The United States and United Kingdom agencies have repeatedly warned people regarding this; however, the sites hackers use are so good it looks real.

Why You Should Be Worried

The hackers are using the pandemic as a way to target internet users like yourselves according to a warning issued Wednesday from two cybersecurity agencies. They are the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Center as well as the USU Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. They both put out a joint statement regarding the tools cybercriminals use, and the most attractive one by far is the coronavirus pandemic.

This is because it preys on your fear and anxiety towards the coronavirus. It became far too easy for hackers to fool people, IntSights a global intelligence agency, has already stated the increased number of domains with the names "covid" and "corona" have skyrocketed from over 900 during December 2019 to 38,000 in March 2020.

There are those cybercriminals who also take you down to the dark web with them by preying on your fears and giving you false hope, which we have recently talked about here at Techtimes. To know more, click here.

The agencies had this to say during their joint statement, "An increasing number of malicious cyber actors are exploiting the current COVID-19 pandemic for their own objectives,"

The level of hacking has been constants and has not increased so far since the only difference is how they are targetting internet users.

Microsoft has also noted this change in how cybercriminals movements. Corporate vice president for Microsoft 365 Security, Rob Lefferts had this to say in his blog post, "They know many are clicking without looking because stress levels are high and they're taking advantage of that,"

Be Prepared

The advisory issued by the agencies contains a list of more than 2,500 data points from coronavirus-related hacking threats. The reason for the information being distributed is to help people defend against computer systems and find signs of hackers that are trying to break into their system. Both agencies said that the list is "non-exhaustive" and have noted that the pandemic is rapidly changing, and so are the ways hackers are using it to their advantage.

Fraud experts have been warning people that hacking isn't the only thing to worry about since scams are beginning to go on the rise. Cures, facemasks, vaccines, ventilators, you name it there are scams for everything you'd ever need when it comes to preparing for the worst in the coronavirus pandemic.

The hacking threats couldn't have come at the worst time when people are now ordered to stay at home, and now their personal devices, as well as systems that are linked to businesses, are more vulnerable than ever. The agencies have provided resources on how you and yours can protect yourselves from these kinds of attacks.