The season of online holiday shopping is upon us! With nearly every retailer giving their best deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the increase in online traffic and the likelihood of people letting down their guards mean it’s a prime time for hackers to do their worst.
Here are five types of cybersecurity attacks to watch out for while you’re doing your holiday shopping this year:
Keep passwords and personal data safe from phishing
If you work in cybersecurity for a living, you probably know that the No. 1 threat to any organization’s IT security is its employees’ vulnerability to phishing attacks. According to a recent study, phishing makes up to 93% of all breaches investigated, and 96% of those cases were due to an employee clicking on an email.
The holiday season can be an even more dangerous time for phishing because we’re on the lookout for holiday shopping notices or special deals from retailers. The best defense is to double down on your normal anti-phishing precautions by doing the following:
Don’t click on links in emails—instead, navigate directly to a company’s URL
Keep your software up-to-date on laptops and mobile devices
Ensure websites you visit are encrypted
Use two-factor authentication (just in case a phishing attempt actually gets through)
Don’t let your phone make you a victim through vishing and smishing
While you may be pretty good at avoiding clicking on links from sketchy emails, attackers can use types cybersecurity attacks watch black friday cyber monday
