• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Security Affairs newsletter Round 531 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

North Korea-linked threat actors spread macOS NimDoor malware via fake Zoom updates

 | 

Critical Sudo bugs expose major Linux distros to local Root exploits

 | 

Google fined $314M for misusing idle Android users' data

 | 

A flaw in Catwatchful spyware exposed logins of +62,000 users

 | 

China-linked group Houken hit French organizations using zero-days

 | 

Cybercriminals Target Brazil: 248,725 Exposed in CIEE One Data Breach

 | 

Europol shuts down Archetyp Market, longest-running dark web drug marketplace

 | 

Kelly Benefits data breach has impacted 550,000 people, and the situation continues to worsen as the investigation progresses

 | 

Cisco removed the backdoor account from its Unified Communications Manager

 | 

U.S. Sanctions Russia's Aeza Group for aiding crooks with bulletproof hosting

 | 

Qantas confirms customer data breach amid Scattered Spider attacks

 | 

CVE-2025-6554 is the fourth Chrome zero-day patched by Google in 2025

 | 

U.S. CISA adds TeleMessage TM SGNL flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

A sophisticated cyberattack hit the International Criminal Court

 | 

Esse Health data breach impacted 263,000 individuals

 | 

Europol dismantles €460M crypto scam targeting 5,000 victims worldwide

 | 

CISA and U.S. Agencies warn of ongoing Iranian cyber threats to critical infrastructure

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Citrix NetScaler flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Canada bans Hikvision over national security concerns

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • Hacking
  • Malware
  • Less than 2% of all daily malspam are Coronavirus-themed attacks, Microsoft reports

Less than 2% of all daily malspam are Coronavirus-themed attacks, Microsoft reports

Pierluigi Paganini April 09, 2020

Microsoft shares new threat intelligence, the IT giant pointed out that malspam activities have not increased due to Coronavirus outbreak.

In recent weeks, security firms and experts reported numerous Coronavirus-themed attacks, now Microsoft shares new threat intelligence on malicious activities during the pandemic.

Despite threat actors are exploiting the current coronavirus pandemic to target users, Microsoft reports it hasn’t observed any spike in malware activity in this period, it only observed a change of lures.

“Our data shows that these COVID-19 themed threats are retreads of existing attacks that have been slightly altered to tie to this pandemic. This means we’re seeing a changing of lures, not a surge in attacks.” reads the report published by Microsoft.

Microsoft tracks thousands of phishing campaigns every week, the company revealed that of the millions of targeted messages observed only roughly 60,000 use the Coronavirus as a lure, it represents less than two percent of the total malspam traffic.

“Microsoft tracks thousands of email phishing campaigns that cover millions of malicious messages every week. Phishing campaigns are more than just one targeted email at one targeted user. They include potentially hundreds or thousands of malicious emails targeting hundreds or thousands of users, which is why they can be so effective. Of the millions of targeted messages we see each day, roughly 60,000 include COVID-19 related malicious attachments or malicious URLs.” continues Microsoft.

Crooks are adapting the templates of their malspam campaigns using COVID-19-related topics and subjects.

In many cases, attackers used spam and phishing messages impersonating trusted entities and authorities like the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Department of Health.

“While that number sounds very large, it’s important to note that that is less than two percent of the total volume of threats we actively track and protect against daily, which reinforces that the overall volume of threats is not increasing but attackers are shifting their techniques to capitalize on fear. Attackers are impersonating established entities like the World Health Organization (WHO),” continues Microsoft. “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Department of Health to get into inboxes. Here’s an example of what just one of these malicious emails looks like now compared to before the COVID-19 crisis:”

Microsoft warns that both cybercrime groups, like Emotet and Trickbot gangs, and nation-state actors are using Coronavirus as lures.

Microsoft confirmed that it has observed COVID-19 themed attacks against entities in almost any country in the world.

Experts also warned of advanced persistent threat and nation-state actors that have been observed targeting healthcare organizations using COVID-19-themed lures in their campaigns. 

The company praised the efficiency of its SmartScreen technology in preventing COVID-19-themed attacks, it also allowed to detects users visiting coronavirus-related domains through the URL scanning technology implemented in the Edge browser.

“In a single day, SmartScreen sees and processes more than 18,000 malicious COVID-19-themed URLs and IP addresses. This again shows us that attackers are getting more aggressive and agile in the delivery of their attacks – using the same delivery methods, but swapping out the malicious URLs on a more frequent basis in an effort to evade machine learning protections.” Microsoft says.

The experts recommend to be vigilant and to adopt security best practices.

[adrotate banner=”9″][adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – malware, Coronavirus)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

coronavirus covid19 information security news it security it security news malspam malware phishing Security Affairs Security News

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 06, 2025
Security Affairs newsletter Round 531 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 05, 2025
North Korea-linked threat actors spread macOS NimDoor malware via fake Zoom updates
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Security Affairs newsletter Round 531 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

    Breaking News / July 06, 2025

    North Korea-linked threat actors spread macOS NimDoor malware via fake Zoom updates

    Malware / July 05, 2025

    Critical Sudo bugs expose major Linux distros to local Root exploits

    Security / July 04, 2025

    Google fined $314M for misusing idle Android users' data

    Laws and regulations / July 04, 2025

    A flaw in Catwatchful spyware exposed logins of +62,000 users

    Malware / July 04, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT