Covid-19: Internet firm restricts virus-themed website registrations

Cybersecurity firms have reported a big jump in coronavirus-related Internet domains in recent weeks, and say many are the work of cybercriminals sowing malware, scamming the public with false cures and harvesting payment card and other personal information. — Reuters

BOSTON: An Internet firm is ending the automated registration of website names that include words or phrases related to the Covid-19 pandemic, an attempt to combat coronavirus-related fraud.

Los Angeles-based Namecheap Inc made the pledge after a federal judge in Texas ordered the takedown of a website the US Department of Justice accused of stealing credit card information while offering fake coronavirus vaccine kits. The website allegedly offered what it claimed were World Health Organisation vaccine kits in exchange for a US$4.95 (RM21) "shipping charge”.