Hospitals and other institutions that are working as the first line of defence in the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) are facing threat from cybercriminals. They have become targets of ransomware attacks, which are designed to lock them out of their critical systems to extort a ransom.
INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Threat Response team at its Cyber Fusion Centre has detected a significant increase in the number of attempted ransomware attacks against key organizations and infrastructure engaged in the virus response. Cybercriminals are using ransomware to hold hospitals and medical services digitally hostage; preventing
them from accessing vital files and systems until a ransom is paid.