Covid-19: These DJs’ names are being used by hackers to spread malware

As per their analysis, David Guetta is the most popular artists whose songs and streams are being to hide malicious files by hackers. He was followed by Alan Walker, DJ Snake, Calvin Harris and Martin Garrix.

Coachella, Ultra, SXSW, Glastonbury and Time Warp have been cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19. (David Guetta/Twitter)

The Covid-19 outbreak has led to either the cancellation or the postponement of several music concerts including the Coachella, Ultra, SXSW, Glastonbury and Time Warp among others. This has led artists and DJs to stream music online on services like Facebook, Twitch and Twitter, which in turn has given hackers and malicious actors a new avenue to launch their attacks.

According to a research by Kaspersky, malicious actors are using tracks liked during the DJ streams to hide infected files. As per their analysis, David Guetta is the most popular artists whose songs and streams are being to hide malicious files by hackers. He was followed by Alan Walker, DJ Snake, Calvin Harris and Martin Garrix.

David Guetta is the most popular artists whose songs and streams are being to hide malicious files by hackers. (Kaspersky)

David Guetta is the most popular artists whose songs and streams are being to hide malicious files by hackers. (Kaspersky)

Hackers use their songs for launching a variety of threats including adware and malicious trojans that can be used to destroy, block, modify, or copy data, or to disrupt the performance of computers or networks.

"While listening to streaming or online services does not harm electronic music fans, they should be cautious if they want to download their favorite songs to their devices. As our research showed, malware can often be hidden behind such files, so people need to take additional measures to safeguard themselves from possible threats", Anton Ivanov, Kaspersky security analyst said in a statement.

Now, the imminent question: how can users safeguard themselves from these threats while enjoying their favorite tracks during the lockdown? Kaspersky suggests that users should double check artists' latest releases and pay attention to the names of tracks and mixes. In addition to that, users should not download a song that they have never heard of or if the file of the track seems suspicious. Lastly, the cyber security firm recommends downloading music or streaming music from trusted sources such as Spotify or Audiomack.