--- title: "Hackers Are Using Coronavirus Maps to Spread Malware" description: "Hackers are creating their own coronavirus maps to infect users with malware, stealing sensitive data including credit card numbers in the process." date: "2020-03-12" modified: "2020-03-12" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hackers-coronavirus-maps-spread-malware" categories: - "Cybersecurity" - "Future Society" - "Hacking" - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid-19" - "hackers" - "malware" - "the digest" --- # Hackers Are Using Coronavirus Maps to Spread Malware ![Hackers are creating their own coronavirus maps to infect users with malware, stealing sensitive data including credit card numbers in the process.]() *\Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* ## Malware Outbreak Coronavirus outbreak dashboards — like [this one](), created by John Hopkins University — have become an extremely useful way to keep track of how the deadly virus is spreading across the globe. But hackers are creating fake coronavirus maps to infect users with malware, [*The Next Web* reports](). ## Doppelganger Security researcher Shai Alfasi at Reason Labs discovered that hackers have started using fake coronavirus dashboards to scrape user data, including "user names, passwords, credit card numbers and other sensitive information that is stored in the users’ browser," according to a [blog post](). For instance, a fake map that used an almost identical graphical interface as the John Hopkins one hid an executable program that created new files in the target's temporary files folders. ## Data Thief The malware keeps itself alive as it sifts through users' files using Windows' "Task Scheduler" feature. The method isn't only capable of stealing your data — it can infect it with a variety of other malware as well. "As the coronavirus continues to spread and more apps and technologies are developed to monitor it, we will likely be seeing an increase in corona malware and corona malware variants well into the foreseeable future," reads the blog post. **READ MORE:** [Hackers are using coronavirus maps to infect your computer]() \[*The Next Web*\] **More on the virus:** *[Medical Centers Are Opening Drive-Thru Coronavirus Testing Stations]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()