Expert warns of cyber attacks

By PETER ESILA
PAPUA New Guinea-based companies must be wary of cyber-attacks as hackers all over the world are looking to capitalise on the Covid-19 crisis, according to an expert.
Cybernetic Global Intelligence (CGI) chief executive Ravin Prasad told The National that hackers were making use of a variety of malicious campaigns, including email spam, malware, business engagement centre and ransomware to penetrate systemic defences amidst the worst scenarios.
Australian company CGI is a partner with Datec PNG Ltd in delivering cyber security programmes in the country.
Prasad said the US department of health and human services (HHS) was hit with a cyber-attack recently.
“The attack, which involved overloading the HHS services with millions of hits over several hours, reportedly aimed to slow the agency down and spread misinformation among the public,” he said.
Prasad said the recent email campaign by cybercriminals with the title ‘Singapore specialist: coronavirus safety measure’ is definitely no different from those seen in many of the past attacks.
“But, the fact that people might be more tempted right now than ever, to click on such links makes it more dangerous.”
Prasad said PNG was not immune to such attacks as access to internet had no borders.
“Many such phishing attacks, which purport to come from the Centre for Disease Control, are making things get much worse,” he said.
“Phishing attacks is a fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as user names, passwords and credit card details by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
“Worries about the lethal virus have led to a rush in demand for the dashboards and maps to help keep track of the virus spread.
“This is what the hackers are making use of now.
“Attackers are ready with a new trick of designing maps, websites related to coronavirus, opening these will let the attackers steal the users’ data, passwords, credit cards, and other sensitive information.
“These lures were found to come as an authorised statement from political leaders or advice from any official sources, making people open it to read, finally letting the data slurping spyware enter the system.”