14 DAY TRIAL // Cybercriminals never sleep, and now that the whole world is all about the new coronavirus, they’re trying to take advantage of the crisis with their very own tools.
This time, it’s a fake so-called Corona Antivirus, a Windows security application whose purpose is apparently to protect us against the COVID-19.
Malwarebytes and MalwareHunter have both come across the bogus app on two separate websites, both of them offering the antivirus and encouraging users to download it “for the best possible protection against the Corona COVID-19 virus.”
“Our scientists from Harvard University have been working on a special AI development to combat the virus using a windows app. Your PC actively protects you against the Coronaviruses (Cov) while the app is running,” the website claims.
The website serves an infected installer which according to Malwarebytes drops BlackNET RAT on a compromised machine, with the device automatically added to the BlackNET botnet.
Do. not. download. this. antivirus!
The malware infection comes with a series of capabilities of its own, including launching DDOS attacks as part of the botnet, taking screenshots, stealing sensitive info like Firefox cookies, saved passwords, and Bitcoin wallets, and running a keylogger to monitor the activity on a system.
It goes without saying you shouldn’t by any means download the fake antivirus and update your security products to detect such threats, especially as the number of scams trying to take advantage of the coronavirus saga keeps increasing.
“During this period, it is important to stay safe both at home and online. The number of scams we have seen during these past few weeks shows that criminals will take advantage of any situation, no matter how dire it is. We recommend that you keep your computer up to date and use extra caution when downloading new programs. Beware of instant notifications and other messages, even if they appear to come from friends,” Malwarebytes explains.
At the time of writing, it’s not yet known how many users downloaded the fake antivirus on their devices.