Cybercriminals have latched on to the AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ 8501 tragedy, taking advantage of people’s curiosity to lure them into clicking on malicious links in an attempt to steal their personal information.

AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ 8501 lost contact with air traffic control yesterday morning at 7.24am local time. A search and rescue operation remains ongoing, but so far rescuers have been unable to locate the missing aircraft. On Monday, Indonesia’s transport minister said the government would carry out a review of AirAsia’s operations following the disappearance of the plane, which was carrying 162 passengers and crew.

“We will do a ground check as well as a review of AirAsia’s operations in Indonesia to ensure that all of its activities are better in the future,” Ignasius Jonan told reporters.

The incident has topped off a tragic and bizarre year for Malaysian aviation – the country’s national carrier Malaysian Airlines has already lost two flights in the past year, generating a storm of curiosity and interest that hackers are trying to exploit.

According to TheHackerNews, cybercriminals have begun posting fake stories on social media claiming “Missing AirAsia flight QZ850 has been found and that all its passengers are safe and alive”. But once a user clicks on the news, the link redirects them to malicious websites.

It’s not the first time cybercriminals have attemped to ‘cash in’ on tragic incidents. Following the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370 earlier this year, criminals posted links to malicious sites claiming that plane had been found.

Earlier this year the security software firm Trend Micro warned that cybercriminals are increasingly looking to take advantage of major news events and trick people into giving up their personal information. In one incident, Trend Micro’s TrendLabs came across an executable file (.exe) disguised as a video – when clicked, it downloaded a virus onto the user’s computer that allowed attackers to steal personal data.

“Cybercriminals have previously used tragedies such as last year’s Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and the deadly bomb attack on the Boston Marathon to lure unsuspecting users to malicious websites,” said Dhanya Thakkar, Managing Director, India & SAARC, Trend Micro.

“Users should click with caution in such situations as cyber criminals try to cash in on such activities. Securing your PCs, tablets and mobile phones with an up-to-date security software is also recommended.”

Image credit: Aero Icarus via Wikimedia Commons