COVID-19 virus: the threat is physical but also virtual...
Like all phenomena that raise questions, fears, and a flood of information, the COVID-19 pandemic and its "digital counterpart" have become a prime playground for hackers and criminal organizations.
The hunt for fake websites has been underway for several weeks.
The number of fake websites using terms such as COVID-19 and Coronavirus to spread malicious content or promote counterfeit products is skyrocketing every day.
The methods used by cybercriminals have not changed much, if at all. Social engineering, i.e., psychological manipulation for the purpose of fraud, remains the most widespread practice. By spreading messages tailored to and contextualized around the current health crisis, many internet users are falling into the trap and are now facing phishing, ransomware, etc. Hackers are brimming with imagination when it comes to enticing your employees to visit malicious websites.
Some examples of scams:
Websites selling counterfeit drugs to treat COVID-19; fraudulent websites selling masks or hand sanitizer; interactive maps downloaded to track the spread of the virus in real time that infect computers; fake emails purporting to be from the Department of Health or government agencies containing links to malicious websites; websites selling masks that never deliver; websites selling medicines that deliver fake boxes containing substances that are hazardous to health.
Olfeo's mission: to guarantee the safety of your users by listing suspicious websites
Throughout this period of lockdown, Olfeo continues to support you in protecting yourself against cyber threats. Our classification team works every day to classify suspicious sites, as well as legitimate sites, paying particular attention to sites that match the COVID-19 lexical field.
Our web recognition rate of over 99% helps provide your employees with a smooth browsing experience, even in these troubled times. Our expertise, which incorporates French-specific features, allows us to easily detect fake websites that mimic official or government sites.
Our legal expertise also helps us to effectively block illegal websites. For example, we have a category for the online sale of medicines.
For optimal protection and in accordance with ANSII recommendations, whitelist filtering offers you the best possible protection by providing your users with a trusted environment. It only allows access to sites that have been recognized and pre-qualified. As a result, short-lived phishing attacks cannot be detected by filtering solutions.
The secrets of our classification team in the fight against COVID-19!
The first key point we would like to highlight is that all classified sites are analyzed twice. We perform a dual analysis: digital and human.
In the current context, automatic ranking based solely on keywords is not relevant, as the keywords searched in relation to COVID-19 are not directly relevant.
That is why, to ensure maximum quality, Olfeo has opted for manual classification since its inception. Even though we use these technologies to pre-classify sites, they are all verified by our team of classification experts. The aim of this is to eliminate false positives that would lead to the miscategorization of certain sites and could have significant consequences in the current context.
The second important point is that our content analysis is granular for accurate ranking.
Olfeo is capable of performing a very detailed analysis of content. Content recognition extends to domains as well as subdomains, URLs, and IP addresses. Thus, in the case of hosting sites, each subdomain will be classified according to its content, rather than the hosting site itself. Currently, many blog subdomains such as XYZcovid-19.wordpress.com promote masks or sanitary products and engage in questionable commercial practices or even counterfeiting.
Finally, the third point to highlight is the database's self-learning capability, which ensures impeccable quality.
Olfeo has a self-learning feature that enables continuous improvement. This feature (which can be disabled) automatically reports any websites visited that were not recognized the first time to the Olfeo classification teams. These contents, prioritized according to their dangerousness and frequency of appearance, are quickly classified. The classification service evaluates new content in less than two hours upon request. This method keeps the recognition rate at an ever-higher level. Since lockdown began, Olfeo has been receiving daily requests to classify newly created sites, as well as lists of risky sites from its healthcare professional clients. Taking these into account allows us to strengthen the barrier against this digital virus and benefit all our clients.
We are here to protect you digitally,
The Olfeo team
