The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), a division of Homeland Security, published an important warning this morning regarding the upcoming holiday weekend and cybersecurity:
As the Easter holiday approaches, US-CERT reminds users to stay aware of holiday scams and cyber campaigns, which may include:
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- unsolicited shipping notifications that may actually be scams by attackers to solicit personal information (phishing scams),
- electronic greeting cards that may contain malicious software (malware),
- requests for charitable contributions that may be phishing scams or solicitations from sources that are not real charities, and
- false advertisements for holiday accommodations or timeshares.
US-CERT encourages users and administrators to use caution when reviewing unsolicited messages. Suggested preventive measures to protect against phishing scams and malware campaigns include:
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- Do not click web links in untrusted email messages.
- Refer to the Shopping Safely Online Tip.
- Use caution when opening email attachments. Check out the Using Caution with Email Attachments Tip for more information on safely handling email attachments.
- Review the Federal Trade Commission’s page on Charity Scams. Use the links there to verify a charity’s authenticity before you donate.
- Read the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks Tip.
- Refer to the Holiday Traveling with Personal Internet-Enabled Devices Tip for more information on protecting personal mobile devices.
This is as good of a time as any to ensure your data has the most up-to-date protection. Update your antivirus software, or contact Great Lakes Computer to learn about our data security products. If you believe you’ve been the victim of an attack, call us immediately so we can remediate the malware and ensure you are protected against future threats.
