The European Union imposed its first ever sanctions against alleged cyber attackers on Thursday, targeting Russian and Chinese individuals and a specialist unit of Moscow's GRU military intelligence agency.

The member states said measures would be taken against six individuals and three entities involved in various actions, including the attempt to hack into the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Thousands of Russian and Chinese-linked social media accounts have launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the new coronavirus, disrupting global efforts to fight the epidemic according to&nbsp;Fernando Arias,&nbsp;the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The accounts, run by humans, not bots, post at similar times in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French and can be linked back to Russian proxies, or carry similar messages to Chinese-backed outlets like Xinhua and&nbsp;Russian-backed outlets such as RT and Sputnik, he added.

The disinformation campaign was identified by US monitors in mid-January after Chinese officials announced a third death from the new coronavirus in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The European Union imposed its first ever sanctions against alleged cyber attackers on Thursday, targeting Russian and Chinese individuals and a specialist unit of Moscow's GRU military intelligence agency.

The European Union imposed its first ever sanctions against alleged cyber attackers on Thursday, targeting Russian and Chinese individuals and a specialist unit of Moscow's GRU military intelligence agency. The member states said measures would be taken against six individuals and three entities involved in various actions, including the attempt to hack into the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Thousands of Russian and Chinese-linked social media accounts have launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the new coronavirus, disrupting global efforts to fight the epidemic according to Fernando Arias, the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The accounts, run by humans, not bots, post at similar times in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French and can be linked back to Russian proxies, or carry similar messages to Chinese-backed outlets like Xinhua and Russian-backed outlets such as RT and Sputnik, he added. The disinformation campaign was identified by US monitors in mid-January after Chinese officials announced a third death from the new coronavirus in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

EU slaps sanctions on Russian and Chinese 'cyber attackers'

Hackers based in China attempted over 40,000 cyber attacks on India's Information Technology infrastructure and banking sector in the last five days, a top police official in Maharashtra said on Tuesday.

Internet users should be watchful for such attacks including phishing attempts and conduct cyber security audits of their IT systems, officials of Maharashtra Cyber, the state police's cyber wing, said.

The spurt in online attacks from across the border was noticed after tensions rose between the two countries in eastern Ladakh, said Yashasvi Yadav, Special Inspector General of Police, cyber wing.

Maharashtra Cyber collated information about these attempts and most of them were found to have originated in Chengdu area in China, he said.

"According to our information at least 40,300 cyber attacks were attempted in the last four-five days on the resources in Indian cyberspace," he said.

The attacks aimed at causing issues such as denial of service, hijacking of Internet Protocol and phishing, Yadav added.

Indian Internet users should pay attention to the threat of such attacks, create robust `firewalls' and conduct cyber security audits, the IGP said.

According to Maharashtra Cyber officials, these hackers are suspected to have database of some 20 lakh Indian email IDs.

Indian government officials as well as private Internet users should especially guard against phishing, where attempt is made to obtain confidential information such as passwords or pass-codes by sending a fraudulent email or text message, they added.

There could be phishing attempts by impersonating, online, government agencies, departments and trade associations overseeing the disbursement of government fiscal aid, they said.

One such fraudulent email ID was found to be `ncov2019@gov.in' which sent bogus information about free Covid-19 testing for residents of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad, officials warned.

Hackers based in China attempted over 40,000 cyber attacks on India's Information Technology infrastructure and banking sector in the last five days, a top police official in Maharashtra said on Tuesday.

Hackers based in China attempted over 40,000 cyber attacks on India's Information Technology infrastructure and banking sector in the last five days, a top police official in Maharashtra said on Tuesday. Internet users should be watchful for such attacks including phishing attempts and conduct cyber security audits of their IT systems, officials of Maharashtra Cyber, the state police's cyber wing, said. The spurt in online attacks from across the border was noticed after tensions rose between the two countries in eastern Ladakh, said Yashasvi Yadav, Special Inspector General of Police, cyber wing. Maharashtra Cyber collated information about these attempts and most of them were found to have originated in Chengdu area in China, he said. "According to our information at least 40,300 cyber attacks were attempted in the last four-five days on the resources in Indian cyberspace," he said. The attacks aimed at causing issues such as denial of service, hijacking of Internet Protocol and phishing, Yadav added. Indian Internet users should pay attention to the threat of such attacks, create robust `firewalls' and conduct cyber security audits, the IGP said. According to Maharashtra Cyber officials, these hackers are suspected to have database of some 20 lakh Indian email IDs. Indian government officials as well as private Internet users should especially guard against phishing, where attempt is made to obtain confidential information such as passwords or pass-codes by sending a fraudulent email or text message, they added. There could be phishing attempts by impersonating, online, government agencies, departments and trade associations overseeing the disbursement of government fiscal aid, they said. One such fraudulent email ID was found to be `ncov2019@gov.in' which sent bogus information about free Covid-19 testing for residents of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad, officials warned.

Amid border tensions, spurt in cyber attacks from China as over 40,000 cases recorded in five days

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EU slaps sanctions on Russian and Chinese 'cyber attackers'

Amid border tensions, spurt in cyber attacks from China as over 40,000 cases recorded in five days