Fake medicines, supplies among major Covid cybercrimes in Asia: Interpol
NEW DELHI, Aug 4: Online sale of fake medical supplies, drugs and personal protective equipment, and exploitation of teleconference tools are the major Covid-19 cybercrime trends in Asia, said Interpol in a report released on Tuesday.
The 'Covid-19 Cybercrime Analysis Report - August 2020', which assesses the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on cybercrime, also stated: "Circulation of fake news and misinformation related to Covid-19 has been reported by most ASP (Asia and South Pacific) member countries."
It also pointed out that major challenge in Asia was lack of cyber-security awareness and 'hygiene'.
The assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on cybercrime has shown a significant target shift from individuals and small businesses to major corporations, governments and critical infrastructure, it said.
The report also stated that as organisations and businesses are rapidly deploying remote systems and networks to support staff working from home, cybercriminals are taking advantage of increased security vulnerabilities to steal data, generate profits and cause disruption.
In one four-month period (January to April) some 907,000 spam messages, 737 incidents related to malware and 48,000 malicious URLs - all related to Covid-19 - were detected by one of Interpol's private sector partners. � IANS