In the News
As holiday shopping heats up, the threat of cyber attacks looms large. In Ahead of Black Friday, Rash of Malware Families Takes Aim at Holiday Shoppers, Tara Seals at Threatpost discusses the potential dangers of online shopping this holiday season and the methods of malicious attackers aiming to capitalize on the increase in web-based purchases. Seals explains that 14 types of malware have been identified thus far manipulating 67 businesses in various sectors including clothes, tech, and financials. Seals elaborates that consumers are struggling with their knowledge of the security risks of online shopping and the convenience that online shopping brings.
Our Take
While convenience place a significant factor in many individual decisions in our society, the issue of security and more importantly financial security should take a higher priority. The holiday seasons are a time of increased shopping, gifting, and unfortunately, vulnerability for consumers as malicious actors capitalize on the season of giving to steal your finances and identity. Online shopping can be especially vulnerable because the consumer is unable to see malware present on a given website. Additionally, the convenience of online shopping is accompanied by a decrease in caution used when making purchases. Although making a purchase at 2 am while you watch Netflix in bed might be convenient, making online purchases when you guard is down can lead to unsafe online practices.
Recommendations
How can you protect your finances from cyber attacks this holiday season?
- Understand the risks of putting your personal information into the world, and only share what you have to, especially when making purchases online
- Make purchases at reputable online retailers
- When possible, shop at brick and mortar locations that utilize EMV (chip-payment PoS systems)
- Minimize the number of accounts that have direct access to your bank account or card numbers
- Don’t reuse your account passwords, and take advantage of multi-factor authentication where possible.
- Check your email, financial accounts, and credit reports regularly for abnormal activities
- Stay up to date on the news regarding recent fraud and phishing attacks to see if you may have been affected