Covid-19 coronavirus: Hackers using virus themes for attacks

Google's security team says it has identified more than a dozen government-backed malicious groups using Covid-19 related themes for phishing and hacking.

The company's Threat Analysis Group says in a blog post that some have tried to trick people into downloading malware by impersonating international health organiations.

It said one South American group, known as Packrat, spoofed the World Health Organisation's login page.

Google says people who work at public health agencies are becoming targets due to the new coronavirus and it's proactively adding extra security for such people — more than 50,000 high-risk accounts in all.

One campaign Google highlighted targeted personal accounts of US government employees — the specific employers were not named — with phishing lures.

Senders posing as American fast-food franchises offering free meals and coupons tried to get recipients to enter their Google account credentials.

While Google said it has not seen an overall increase in phishing attacks by government-backed groups, the use of Covid-19 themes represents a change in tactics.

"It's clear based on my reporting that the Republican party nationwide feels intense pressure to reopen these states. So, when they see these protests, they're not condemning them at all" - @costareports w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/ud89SpxF2v

— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) April 22, 2020

In other developments:

GEORGIA: Several hundred farmers blocked a main road in the country of Georgia in a protest against strict measures taken to try to stifle the spread of coronavirus. The protest in Marneuli took place on the same day that the Georgian Parliament voted to extend a state of emergency until May 22.The farmers complained that markets and stores are short on food and supplies and that they cannot sell their agricultural products. Georgia has reported 416 cases of coronavirus infection and five deaths.

BELGIUM: The European Union is aiming to set up a humanitarian air bridge to help move aid, equipment and facilities to parts of Africa hit hardest by the coronavirus. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says "France has been proposing to be the first country that can participate."

TURKEY: Turkey's health minister has reported 117 additional Covid-19 fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 2376. Fahrettin Koca also reported 3083 new confirmed infections in the country, raising the total to 98,674. The number of new cases was the lowest since April 4 and down from the 4611 cases reported the previous day.

Redfield: When I commented that there was a possibility of a second wave being more difficult or complicated, when we'd have flu and coronavirus circulating at the same time, but I didn't say this was going to be "worse," just more difficult and complicated.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 22, 2020

SPAIN: Parliament has approved the Government's proposal to extend Spain's state of emergency for a further two weeks, until May 9. The state of emergency was declared on March 14, granting the Government extraordinary powers to maintain a lockdown to help control the coronavirus outbreak. Spain will further relax its confinement rules next Tuesday when it lets children under 14 years old out for walks with a parent. Factory and construction workers have already been allowed back to their jobs. The confinement has helped slow the daily contagion rate increase from more than 20 per cent to less than 2 per cent. Spain has had over 21,000 deaths and 208,000 infections.

FRANCE: The head of France's national health agency says there's no evidence that nicotine protects smokers from the virus — and warned that smoking remains the country's number one killer. Jerome Salomon noted data released by the Paris hospital network suggesting an unusually low proportion of smokers among those hospitalised with the virus, compared to the 25 per cent of smokers in the French population. French researchers have proposed further study, notably on nicotine and the virus. But Salomon insisted that the data so far is based on observation only, and an eventual nicotine link is only an unproven hypothesis at this stage.

UNITED STATES: Two pet cats in New York state have tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the first cases in companion animals in the United States, federal officials say. The cats, which had mild respiratory illnesses and are expected to recover, are thought to have contracted the virus from people in their households or neighbourhoods, the US Department of Agriculture and the federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention say. The finding, which comes after positive tests in seven tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo, add to a small number of confirmed cases of the virus in animals worldwide. US authorities say that while it appears some animals can get the virus from people, there's no indication the animals are transmitting it to human beings. Authorities are recommending that any pet owners with Covid-19 avoid contact with their animals as much as possible.

ITALY: Deaths in Italy related to the coronavirus pandemic topped 25,000 today. The number of dead and new positives continue to plateau for Italy, the first Western country to be hit by the crisis. The civil protection agency reported 437 people had died with the virus in the last 25 hours, a 1.7 per cent increase in the death toll to 25,085. The number of positive cases rose 1.5 per cent to 183,857. Pressure on health services continued to ease.

- AP