12 February 2021, Friday, 17:20 145

NSDC Informs About Creation By Unknown Persons Of Fake Website Of Health Ministry And Placement On It False Information About Mandatory Vaccination For Introduction Of Malware Program Into Computers

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

The National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) informs about the creation by unknown persons of a fake website of the Ministry of Health and placing on it false information about mandatory vaccination in order to introduce malware into computers.

The press service of the authority has said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

It is noted that at the beginning of the pandemic, more than 18 million phishing messages related to the COVID-19 topic were registered every day in the world.

Since mid-2020, their number has gradually decreased, and phishing attacks have become more targeted, while their topic has changed - from the availability of masks and tests to the development of vaccines.

It is indicated that in late January, the National Cybersecurity Coordination Center under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine detected a phishing cyber attack aimed at Ukrainian Internet users, the main theme of which was the start of vaccination against COVID-19 in Ukraine.

"During the attack, a fake web page was created on a popular hosting platform that imitated the website of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. To host the page, the attackers registered several domains that resembled the official domain of the Ministry of Health - moz.gov.ua," the statement reads.

On this fake page, information was posted about the start of the mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 from January 25, with a proposal to download a file (Word document) with details.

Malicious code (script) was embedded in this document, which, when the file is opened, is hidden from the user and downloads and executes another malicious script that provides remote control of the infected computer.

Thus, the attackers gained full access to the victim's computer.

The National Cybersecurity Coordination Center, together with CSIRT-NBU and CERT-UA, analyzed all stages of the attack and blocked phishing domains.

As part of the response, the organizations targeted by the attack are informed.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the European Union has confirmed its readiness to help Ukraine gain early access to vaccines and support the vaccination campaign through a regional project with the World Health Organization.