Five Security Tips for Black Friday 2021
Black Friday 2021 is around the corner, are you prepared to be secure? Unfortunately, the significant rise in demand for online shopping this holiday season provides the perfect opportunity for cybercriminals to launch their online scams.
Online sales will make up close to 20% of total holiday season retail sales this year (eMarketer)
The season of online holiday shopping is upon us! Below are five security tips to watch out for during Black Friday 2021 and your holiday shopping:
Be Aware of Phishing Emails, Smishing SMS or Vishing (voice communication)
The holiday season can be an even more dangerous time for phishing/smishing/vishing because everyone is on the lookout for holiday shopping notices or special deals from retailers. Researchers found that 30 percent of people in the US reported receiving a phishing message around Black Friday in 2020.
Use Only Secure Websites
Simple security check: hover the cursor over the URL and confirm the authenticity of web address. Look for the padlock symbol in the address bar and ensure that the URL begins with HTTPS:// rather than HTTP://. The ‘S’ indicates that the webpage has been encrypted and secured with an SSL certificate. Another sign to look for is the “Lock” icon that is displayed somewhere in the window of your web browser.
Watch out for Fake Websites
Cybercriminals clone websites to appear close to legitimate sites. The webpage may contain misspelled links, images may be pixilated, the content will often be sub-standard, and website functions may not work correctly. Before you click on any links, hover the cursor over the link, and make sure that it shows the real destination URL. Also, be cautious of domains that end in .net or .org, as they are rarely used for online shopping.
Uniques Passwords, PassPharase and MFA
Make sure you use unique and strong passwords for every online account. You can use a password manager to generate unique and secure passwords for all your accounts and remember them for you. Go one more setting up MFA to add an extra layer of security to your passwords. Enabling multi-factor authentication makes you 99% less likely to get hacked.
Be Aware of Social Media Scams
Social media scams have become prevalent on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Hackers use social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, to put malicious posts, and entice online customers to like and share their posts and click notorious links. Don’t click on links or images —instead, navigate directly to a company’s URL.
Over 55 percent of U.S. consumers intended to shop online during the holiday season. Amazon.com lead the path last year with online shopping - remember the safest way is to go directly to their website in your browser. Not clicking on a link or image via an email or social media ad/post.
Many people shop during lunch hours or during business hours on a company device, one or two wrong keystrokes could hurt you organizations. Time to send reminder on shopping for Black Friday 2021 security or time for Security Awareness Training. CorpInfoTech can help train your humans.
CorpInfoTech (Corporate Information Technologies) provides small to mid-market organizations with expert I.T. services including compliance assessment, cybersecurity penetration tests, and comprehensive business continuity planning services. CorpInfoTech can help organizations, quantify, create, refine, and mitigate the risks presented by business threatening disasters in whatever form they may be disguised.
