Prague’s airport said Saturday that recently, there were several attempts to hack its IT network.
“Attempted attacks on web pages of the airport were detected in preparatory phase, that prevented their spreading and all further phases that could have followed and potentially harm the company”, an airport spokesperson said.
With the rise of coronavirus cases across the world, COVID-related cyberattacks and fraud schemes have seen a dramatic surge. Experts said that hackers ranging from cyber criminals to government-backed spies have been targeting businesses, governments and healthcare organizations, aiming to steal sensitive information related to the outbreak.
The Czech cybersecurity agency Nukib on Thursday warned the country is expecting “a large-scale campaign of severe cyberattacks” targeting healthcare institutions. Two other hospitals reported attempted attacks on their computer systems on Friday. On Saturday, another hospital, in the western city of Karlovy Vary, was attacked overnight.
An official said it was not clear who was responsible for the cyberattacks, but it was thought to be the work of a “serious and advanced adversary”.
“I do hope that our experts will find out who is interested in Czech Republic [losing] to this [disease]”, foreign minister Tomas Petricek said.
United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Friday said in a statement that the US had “zero tolerance” for malicious cyber activity designed to undermine efforts against the global pandemic. He added that “anyone that engages in such an action should expect consequences”.
Earlier, security analysts warned that the number of websites used for phishing to steal people’s private credentials rose by 350% since January to more than 500,000.
