World Health Organization: Huge rise in hacks on our systems

The World Health Organization has seen a large increase in cyber attacks in recent times. The organization says that in some cases it concerns ‘elite hackers’, although it is unclear who exactly is behind the attack and what the hackers want.

The WHO confirms the increase in attacks to Reuters. According to the news agency, the attacks were unsuccessful and the hackers did not enter the systems of the organization, which is currently in the middle of fighting the corona pandemic. Reuters sources suspect that it concerns hacker group DarkHotel. They are said to have been carrying out spy hacks since 2007 using sophisticated methods. Security experts can’t confirm that, although a Kaspersky analyst says the WHO hacker’s infrastructure has also been used in attacks on human rights and health organizations in recent weeks. DarkHotel strikes more often in that region. It is not known exactly what the hackers are looking for.

The attacks were first spotted by an American security expert. He discovered several newly registered domain names. The WHO confirms that those domain names were used to phish members of the organization and thus steal their account information. The sites are said to mimic the WHO’s internal mail system. The attacks are said to have taken place since March 13. The WHO itself says that the number of attacks on the organization has more than doubled in recent weeks. “There are no hard numbers, but such burglary attempts against us and imitating the WHO have increased recently.”