Is 5G linked to COVID-19 Infection? Unraveling the Hoax

To clear the air -5G does not cause COVID-19 infection! The hoax news has been around for a while, where many social media posts with photos and videos started popping up.

It has been confirmed by the scientists that the novel coronavirus began spreading from the wet market at Wuhan, China. The zoological disease was transmitted from an animal to a human.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the cyberattackers have taken the unjust advantage by spreading fake news, producing clickbait videos, and sending spam emails.

Let’s talk about the latest hoax of 5G causing COVID-19 infection.

COVID-19 Concern fuelled by 5G

In the last few weeks, the hoax news about 5G connection causing COVID-19 infection has been widespread throughout social media.

Many celebrities including Hollywood actors Woody Harrelson and John Cusack shared the news on their Twitter.

According to the experts, the mainstream is unusually accepting of conspiratorial thinking, rumors, alarm, or panic during uncertain times.

Yonder Chief Innovation Officer Ryan Fox told TechCrunch reported that,

In the current infodemic, we’ve seen conspiracy theories and other forms of misinformation spread across the internet at an unprecedented velocity.

The trend represents the outsized influence of “small groups of hyper passionate individuals” in driving misinformation, like the 5G claims.

Although the origin of hoax can be linked to the environmentalists, the rapid spread of news is caused mainly by cyberattackers and unaware social media users.

According to Wired.com,

The seed of the false 5G coronavirus claim may have been planted in a late January print interview with a Belgian doctor who suggested that 5G technologies poses health dangers and might be linked to the virus.

Facebook has recently stepped up efforts to prevent the spread of baseless conspiracy theories linking COVID-19 to 5G.

Blackbird.AI, the company that monitors online disinformation campaigns, reported that it had in recent weeks identified a surge in the number of social media posts promoting the 5G conspiracy theory.

Naushad UzZaman, the company’s chief technology officer and co-founder reported that,

In the previous 24 hours, there had been more than 50,000 posts about the topic on Twitter and Reddit.

The violence after the spread of hoax news has also been reported around some parts of the world. At least 20 mobile phone masts have been attacked in the U.K. Employees of British Telecommunication were also reported to have been abused in recent days.

What is 5G Technology?

5G or ‘5 Generation’ is the fifth generation of wireless communications technologies supporting cellular data networks. Because of the higher frequency level, it has quicker outreach to cellular services.

The difference between 5G and previous generations of mobile services (4G, 3G) is that the latter uses lower radio frequencies (in the 6 gigahertz range), whereas 5G [also] uses frequencies in the 30–300 gigahertz range.

5G is known to emit radiation that can come into contact with the skin or internal organs. For instance, when a user puts a cellphone close to their ear, they will be exposing their brain to non-ionizing radiation.

This exposure is well below the recommended safety level, hence 5G radiation is less likely to penetrate the skin, or allow a virus to penetrate the skin.

Is COVID-19 a new form of biological weapon?

Many people, including politicians in the U.S., were of the opinion that, COVID-19 is a new form of biological weapon created by China. On the other hand, many people were of the opinion that the virus was created by the US as a biological weapon.

About COVID-19

The companies are locked down, factories are closed, employees are laid off, streets are empty, and the market is an all-time low. Nobody could have estimated the effects of COVID-19 would have on other fields, but it did manage to take a toll on the hospitality and service sector in a short time.

Coronavirus disease 2019 or popularly known as COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2).

Symptoms of COVID-19

Common signs of infection include:

?                   Respiratory symptoms

?                   Fever and cough

?                   Shortness of breath

?                   Breathing difficulties

In more severe cases, the infection can cause

?                   Pneumonia

?                   Severe acute respiratory syndrome

?                   Kidney failure

How does the virus spread?

?                   The infection is spread from one person to others via respiratory droplets produced from the airways, often during coughing or sneezing.

?                   Time from exposure to onset of symptoms is generally between 2 and 14 days, with an average of 5 days.

Latest Cybersecurity Threats Raised by COVID-19

Some of the biggest cybersecurity concerns raised by COVID-19 are as follows:

• The hackers are exploiting the growing demand for work-from-home solutions by passing off their malicious tools as remote collaboration software produced by Zoom and Microsoft.
• Hackers are also targeting the virtual private networks that are allowing an increasing number of employees to connect to their offices, the agencies said.
• The cybersecurity industry has been sounding the alarm for weeks over the threat of coronavirus-themed malicious software and booby-trapped emails.

How can you stay protected?

Here is how you can stay away from cyberattackers.

1. Be wary of emails or pop-up carrying messages such as “Government has now offered an exclusive cure for Coronavirus for $100” or “The scientists have found the vaccine for COVID-19.” Such messages are fraudulent and they highlight the clickbait activities.
2. Rely on valid information regarding COVID-19 from only reliable sources such as the website of government offices and health care agencies such as WHO (World Health Organization), CDC (Center for disease control and measures) and NIH (National Institutes of Health).
3. Ensure to check the domain or URL. Spelling errors, lookalike domains in emails or websites are common. And, also make sure emails you are getting from your workspace are valid and not sent from lookalike domains by the attackers with the motive of gather information of your company.
4. Ensure that you are using valid sources to order online materials. Do not trust any attractive advertisements.
5. Use a legitimate VPN for internet access wherever possible. This prevents online phishing activities.
6. Verify the authenticity of the person or organization before responding. Make sure to read the issued warning about scammers by WHO (World Health Organization).
7. Digital viruses can spread faster than the physical ones. Accessing unsafe email or clicking on a clickbait advertisement can contaminate the entire system in your organization, leading to a great loss of your company’s valuable assets.
8. Update your systems and applications regularly to mend any weaknesses if any that may be exploited.
9. Keep anti-virus software up to date.
10. Stay away from the public or unsecured Wi-Fi
11. If you have logged in your social media accounts or any of the accounts, make sure you have logged out properly.
12. Make sure to think twice before entering into HTTP websites. Http websites are not secured and also could be a honey trap for you planned by attackers.
13. Read and learn more about social engineering and how attackers can use their tools to access your private data.

Searchable Design LLC is a premier digital agency based in Des Moines, Iowa. We offer handy tips and techniques to keep your work station safe.