Be aware of holiday phishing, especially on desktops. During that period, the number of malicious emails that serve malware as an attachment or that contain a links to compromised websites increases. Social media is becoming a privileged channel to spread phishing messages. Phishing messages propose special offers, taking advantage of the holiday period that’s characterized by a spike of online shopping. As usual, cyber criminals attack customers of banks and other financial institutions by asking victims to confirm information related to their account for security purposes. Phishing that exploits email to send malicious messages, is a growing threat as well.
Malicious messages direct victims to visit a website or call a phone number, at which point the person being scammed is enticed to provide sensitive information, such as credit card details or banking credentials. Malicious shipping notifications belong to this category of scam. Cyber criminals use it to send out fake messages to update customers on the status of their shipments. Usually, these messages include a malicious link or carry malware. During the holidays, internet users place numerous orders online, and the likelihood that they wait for shipping notifications is high. That’s why this scheme of attack is very efficient, especially during the holidays.
Holidays are party time. Private events or company holiday parties are very common during this period. The Wall Street Journal estimates 9 out of 10 companies will throw some kind of holiday party this year, inviting personnel and participants via email, and requesting to complete a form to confirm their participation. Spoofed invitations present another great holiday-themed attack opportunity for cyber criminals to craft phishing emails.
Wi-Fi hotspots are dangerous hunting grounds for hackers. Users aren’t aware of the risks they are exposed to once they’re connected to insecure networks. The Norton 2013 report highlighted potentially risky behavior on insecure Wi-Fi. The majority of users access their social network accounts (56%) and personal email (54%), and around 29% access their bank accounts, while many make online purchases (29%). That data gives an idea of the exposure users have on insecure Wi-Fi, but what’s really worrying is that more than a third of them don’t adopt any defensive measures, and incur bad habits during navigation (e.g. sharing passwords, not logging off after having used a public WI-FI connection.) Almost every Wi-Fi hotspot is insecure. Doing online shopping on them can lead to exposing user accounts to identity thieves and scams. Be aware, antivirus and similar software won’t protect you on an open network, hackers are over your shoulders.
Password hacking is a very common practice. Cyber criminals use different techniques to try to steal account passwords from users. Social engineering, phishing and brute force attacks are very popular, especially during the holidays. Users usually adopt weak passwords, and unfortunately, in many cases they don’t protect services and devices with secret codes. The problem is especially serious on mobile devices. Users don’t use a PIN to protect them, and in the majority of cases they use simple passwords due the difficulty of memorizing them.
There are lots of brilliant programs which may secure your online shopping, such as upcleaner – the computer cleaner with many useful features. It periodically checks and fixes all vulnerabilities of your browser. Any malicious add-ons installed without your knowledge can be removed with a single click. With pc accelerator, the safety and privacy of your computer are always under the highest level of protection.
So, enjoy your holiday season, but do not forget to stay safe shopping online, and make sure the whole holiday season is festive.
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