It’s as despicable as it sounds. Hackers are using the COVID 19 pandemic as an opportunity to hack your home and business systems. While the world is coming together, neighbors assisting neighbors to help us all get through this coronavirus episode, there are some people looking to profit from this extremely contagious virus. What are they doing and how can you protect yourself?
The method most used is to send a phishing email purporting to inform you of the latest updates regarding the virus. The email will provide a link or an attachment and ask you to click on it.
It has become so commonplace that the CDC has issued an alert as follows:
CDC Alerts. Cybercriminals have sent phishing emails designed to look like they’re from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The email might falsely claim to link to a list of coronavirus cases in your area. “You are immediately advised to go through the cases above for safety hazard,” the text of one phishing email reads.
Other phishing emails are designed to look like they are from health organizations and ask the reader to click a link for a list of safety measures and precautions. Some hackers have even targeted large organizations and sent emails to all their employees asking them to click on a link and read through the new communicable disease policy to ensure they are in compliance.
As with any emails from an unreliable source, clicking a link or downloading an attachment could compromise your network and secure data. Now more than ever, whether working from home or not, we all must remain uber diligent about security. Remember, just because you are working in your casual clothes doesn’t mean you can afford to be casual about security.
If you have any questions about COVID-19 scams or phishing attempts, please do not hesitate to contact our team. We would love to chat and educate your team on the cybersecurity risks and threats during this unprecedented time.
Stay well!
Donald Nokes
President
As President of NetCenergy, Don Nokes is responsible for ensuring client satisfaction, and overseeing company performance and direction. Prior to co-founding the firm with Dan Charland in 2003, Don held senior leadership positions with IT service firms ranging in size from $3 Billion to $10 Million in annual sales.
Nick Eckman joined NetCenergy in 2016 from an international gaming company. Nick’s experience with supervising and implementing secure, fiber and copper wire infrastructure services provides our clients with a team of highly trained and experienced technicians. In addition to the skills required to manage our infrastructure services department, Nick brings a very experienced and focused approach to project management and is a stickler for accurate documentation for every project designed and built by his team.
Peter Lachapelle joined NetCenergy in 2015 and is responsible for leading all of NetCenergy’s operations and accounting functions. Each department within NetCenergy reports through Lachapelle. He brings his years of experience to maintain a pragmatic, efficient, client-focused team at NetCenergy. Lachapelle joined NetCenergy after completing a 27-year career with a Rhode Island, federally-charted bank which culminated in his senior management position as COO and CFO for the bank.
Peter Nelson has 25+ years of technology and management experience and has been with NetCenergy since inception. Peter serves as the VP of Engineering at NetCenergy. His role consists of managing the engineering staff, driving the companies technology strategy, and ensuring NetCenergy keeps up to date on new technologies and solutions.
As a Founding Partner, Dan is a result oriented individual who is always focusing on what is best for his client. He understands that business applications empower an organization and that technology must support those critical business applications. Dan’s technology career started in 1990 at EMC Corporation. Through the years, he has represented technology and consulting services for several organizations until 2003, when he and Don Nokes founded NetCenergy.
With decades of hands-on HR experience, Margery Ahearn is our Director of Human Resources, overseeing all hiring of new positions for NetCenergy with a careful eye on sourcing technology savvy engineers and skilled office-based professionals who fit our company culture, understand our commitment to our clients, and bring their time and talents to our team. Margery has both a BA and MBA in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.