An email virus is doing the rounds of Central Otago, with a number of local businesses reporting receiving the email. 

If you have received an email from an unknown address with a .zip file and a password, do not open any attachments. Simply report as dangerous through your email service and delete. 

CERT NZ has published a number of alerts recently, with one reporting a Malware virus spread through emails is currently infecting New Zealanders. 

“A malware campaign which is being spread through attachments or links in emails is currently affecting New Zealanders,” CERT NZ reported.

“Once someone opens the attachments or links in the email, the malware gains access to their email account and can send emails out to their contact list to keep spreading the malware.

“Once a computer has been infected with this malware it can result in significant financial loss, or data loss through ransomware infections.”

CERT NZ published a list of what to do if you think you are being attacked. 

Prevention

It is important that you take the following measures:

• Ensure the anti-virus software on your device is active and up-to-date
• Use an email provider that has good filtering for spam and other malicious emails
• Use your anti-virus to scan any documents attached, or downloaded from emails before you open them
• Report any suspicious emails to your IT Support Team
• When opening a document from an email, if you’re prompted to “enable macros” or “run macros”, click no

Mitigation

If your system has been infected by Emotet malware, we recommend that you:

• Isolate the infected computer as soon as possible
• Run an anti-virus scan across the device
• Change all your passwords and logins on a non-infected device
• Implement two-factor authentication where possible - 
• https://www.cert.govt.nz/individuals/guides/getting-started-with-cyber-security/two-factor-authentication/
• Inspect and clean all computers connected to your network
• Notify everyone in your contact list and advise them not to open any emails that appear to come from you

For more information, click here.