The Department of Defense’s Cyber Crime Center is monitoring phishing emails and other social engineering attempts related COVID-19 via a threat data exchange partnership with the defense industrial base, DC3 reported Monday.
Linthicum Heights, Md.-based DC3 houses the DOD-DIB Collaborative Information Sharing Environment, which is the Pentagon’s means of receiving cyber situational awareness data from defense contractors who hold security clearances.
“This crowd-sourced threat-sharing allows for near real-time collaboration, enabling members of the partnership and U.S. government agencies to potentially detect, deter and remediate before an incident occurs or escalates,” DCISE Director Krystal Covey said.
The center noted that domain masquerading was significantly common in coronavirus-related scams were reported to the DCISE over the past month, with one company reporting about a credential harvesting email that claimed to be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In late March, a voluntary partner in the DIB cybersecurity program alerted the environment of a Central Authentication Service-based government login system that was attempting to carry out a COVID-19 phishing attack with the use of a web proxy vulnerability.
An agency received information from the DCISE and subsequently halted the login service.
“This scenario highlights that the DIB cybersecurity voluntary program provides critical communication and benefits beyond its immediate scope and mission,” Covey added.