Swine flu fears making millionaires out of Russian hackers

As the number of reported swine flu cases climbs, it’s time a strong message was sent out against buying Tamiflu over the internet.

Research published by Sophos exposes the profit model of the Russian cybercriminals making millions of pounds from counterfeit medicines, including Tamiflu.

Panic-induced stockpiling by individuals who aren’t officially classified as being at risk of contracting swine flu, and therefore anxious they won’t receive Tamiflu from the NHS, will not only line cybercriminals’ pockets with millions of pounds in cash but also grant them access to sensitive personal data to be used for other crimes.

You can learn more about how these underground web affiliates, which form networks called the Partnerka, profit from online sales of drugs such as Tamiflu in a whitepaper published today by Sophos entitled…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

Found this article interesting? Follow Graham Cluley on Twitter or Mastodon to read more of the exclusive content we post.

Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.