In times of great fear and anxiety, we need to be especially vigilant against snail oil salesmen. Never letting a good crisis go to waste, the bad guys are capitalizing on the chaos to lure us into downloading malware and buying fraudulent (or even harmful) advice and products. In part one of my interview with Malwarebyte’s David Ruiz, we talk about the explosion of COVID-19-related phishing scams and malware campaigns, including tips on how to avoid being a victim.

David Ruiz is a content writer for Malwarebytes, covering online privacy, cybersecurity, and the laws – and proposed legislation – that regulate how data is stored, shared and accessed. He previously worked for Electronic Frontier Foundation, where he wrote and analyzed policy about NSA surveillance, encryption, and cross-border data transfer.