The Indian cybersecurity agency CERT-In has reported that users affected by the recent global computer outage are now being targeted by phishing attacks. Fraudsters are posing as CrowdStrike support staff, offering system recovery tools that instead install malware.
A CERT-In advisory issued on Saturday warns that these attacks could deceive unsuspecting users into installing unidentified malware, potentially causing data leaks and system crashes. The global computer outage on July 19, caused by a faulty update to the CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor software, resulted in Microsoft Windows operating system crashes, grounding flights, and disrupting business, banking, and hospital systems worldwide, reported the Press Trust of India.
While systems have now recovered with official fixes from CrowdStrike and Microsoft, attackers are exploiting the situation by selling software scripts claiming to automate recovery. CERT-In notes that these phishing attackers are also distributing Trojan malware disguised as recovery tools.
Phishing attacks involve fraudsters impersonating reputable and official entities via email, text messages, or phone calls to trick victims into revealing sensitive personal information, such as banking details and login credentials.
CERT-In, the federal agency responsible for combating cyber-attacks and safeguarding the online space, has advised users and organizations to configure firewalls to block 31 types of URLs, including ‘crowdstrikeoutage[.]info’ and ‘www.crowdstrike0day[.]com’, as well as numerous hashes.
The advisory also recommends several trusted cyber hygiene practices: obtaining software patch updates from authentic sources, avoiding documents with “.exe” links, being cautious of suspicious phone numbers, clicking only URLs with clear website domains, and using safe browsing and filtering tools along with appropriate firewalls.
“Ensure that websites have valid encryption certificates by checking for the green lock in the browser’s address bar before entering sensitive information, such as personal details or account login information,” the advisory adds.
