Online Retailers See Surge in Cyberattacks Amidst COVID-19 Crisis

     

The COVID-19 pandemic has relegated many of us to our homes, leaving businesses with few opportunities to reach their customers and make sales. Online shopping has become a vital lifeline for thousands of businesses while brick and mortar locations are closed and millions of people shelter in place. In fact, many retailers are experiencing online traffic that is exceeding Cyber Monday activity, typically a high watermark for online shopping.   

Unfortunately, bad actors are capitalizing on this moment by targeting e-commerce platforms for attack using tricks like account takeovers, bot-powered scraping attacks, and payment card skimming malware. For example, 80% of login incidences at home goods retailers are attributed to account takeover attempts.

While a litany of COVID-19-related cyber risks has become increasingly apparent, it’s clear that online retailers need to be especially critical of their defensive posture to ensure that they can continue meeting surging demand in an uncertain retail atmosphere in order to retain customer goodwill and capture enough revenue to stay afloat in a challenging time for retail.  

https://www.scmagazine.com/home/security-news/cybercrime/report-account-takeover-and-data-scraping-attacks-on-e-retailers-up-as-covid-19-surges/   

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Dark Web Trends

 third party contractors put data at risk, phishing scams continue to target unprepared employees, and cybercriminals target online retailers as the pandemic continues to keep customers out of stores.    

• Top Source Hits: ID Theft Forums
• Top Compromise Type: Domain
• Top Industry: Education & Research
• Top Employee Count: 101-250

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Phishing Scams Have Spiked by 667% in One Month

 

The global COVID-19 response has required millions of workers to work from home. When coupled with a general sense of unease and uncertainty, the situation has created a perfect environment for cybercriminals to execute phishing scams. As a result, the number of phishing emails has increased by 667% in the past month.     

According to an assessment of 468,000 phishing emails, 2% were directly related to COVID-19. Meanwhile, 54% were labeled as scams, 34% as brand impersonation attacks, and 11% as blackmail. In addition, many are luring clicks by claiming to sell cures, face masks, and other critical supplies.  

For businesses, the implications are clear. Nobody can afford a data breach in this environment. Now is the right time to update and reemphasize phishing scam awareness training to ensure that employees can repel these damaging cyberattacks.  

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/covid19-drive-phishing-emails-667/   

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Stop falling for the scams!

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Introducing Next-level Secure Identity & Access Management With Passly

    

In today’s remote work world, every company needs a secure identity and access management solution to guard their systems and data against ever-increasing cyberattacks. We’re ready to meet that need with a dynamic solution that is quick to deploy and seamlessly scales to companies of any size. Introducing Passly, our new, comprehensive solution for secure identity and access management. 

Ideally suited for a remote workforce, Passly enables techs to give the right people access to the right things in a flash, simply and securely. Passly features Secure Password Management, Single Sign-On, Multi-Factor Authentication, and Dark Web exposure alerting baked right in, making it the ideal secure identity and access management solution to solve the challenges that MSPs and clients face right now – at a fraction of the price of other solutions.  

Learn more about Passly and see how it can benefit you today: https://www.idagent.com/passly 

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Dark Web Trends

Plus: ransomware slows COVID-19 treatment development, malware targets online shoppers, and phishing scams jump by 667% in a month.  

Dark Web ID Trends:

• Top Source Hits: ID Theft Forums
• Top Compromise Type: Domain
• Top Industry: Medical & Healthcare
• Top Employee Count: 11-50

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas
877.860.5863

Social Isolation Puts Company Data at Risk

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause chaos for businesses, we continue to be committed to helping keep your data secure. To that end, we’ve compiled several resources to help you navigate this unique terrain, and if we can serve you in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact us.     

This week, we wanted to highlight a cybersecurity vulnerability that is especially prescient as many people work from home and practice social distancing. According to a study by the Better Business Bureau, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, and the Stanford Center on Longevity, people are more likely to fall for a scam when they are socially isolated.  

Cybercriminals are already taking advantage of our new digital environment sending a flurry of phishing and other fraudulent messages meant to compromise personal and company data, and isolated employees are more vulnerable than usual to these attack methodologies. Therefore, in addition to preparing employees for this troubling trend, make an effort to reach out to employees, coworkers, and family members to make personal connections during this challenging time.   

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/03/24/risk-scams/?web_view=true   

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Are you an ID Agent Partner? Feel free to re-use this blog post (in part or in entirety) for your own social media and marketing efforts! Just send an email to marketing@idagent.com to let us know!

Not a Partner? Learn more about Dark Web ID™ and the benefits it holds for your Business. Contact us today!

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Expert Cybersecurity Tips for Working From Home

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about an unprecedented work-from-home experiment as social distancing measures require millions of employees around the world to work from home. As we’ve already seen, this presents unique cybersecurity challenges for both companies and their employees. To help you secure data while working remotely, here are four simple steps that every company and employee can take 

1. Use a trusted VPN. These services can provide a layer of protection by encrypting network traffic and making it more difficult for bad actors to spy on your activity. Choose a reputable VPN provider, as a number of VPN scams have tricked employees into downloading malicious software that steals their login credentials 

2. Enable two-factor authentication. Account security is critical, especially when entire companies are working remotely. Enabling two-factor authentication is an affordable and effective way to keep company accounts secure at all times.   

3. Refrain from using personal devices. Many employees may be tempted to use personal devices for work-related tasks, especially when working from home. It’s always possible that these devices contain malware or other exploits that could compromise company data.   

4. Look out for Phishing Scams. Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to capitalize on our vulnerabilities. At this moment, COVID-19-related phishing scams abound, targeting employees’ sense of isolation and vulnerability to capture critical information.

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Microsoft Account Suspension Scam

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Latest Microsoft voice scam

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How to Avoid Data Breaches While Working From Home

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the way we work practically overnight, as many people are working from home for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, bad actors are taking advantage of these circumstances by increasing phishing attacks targeting home workers. Taking action now to secure your data and keep your staff alert about threats is the best way to protect your company’s data and systems from opportunistic cybercriminals.   

According to a recent assessment, Italy saw a sharp spike in phishing scams as workers quickly shifted from in-office work to home-based arrangements. Around the globe, more than 40% of all workers are currently working from home, a significant jump even in just the past week. In addition to phishing scams, cybersecurity researchers identified a spike in malicious remote access attempts.  

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the jump in employees teleworking to mask their activity and gain access to company data. The US Department of Homeland Security recommends that organizations remain vigilant about equipping employees to identify phishing scams and that they enable two-factor authentication to protect accounts from unauthorized access.  

At ID Agent, we recognize that this is a uniquely challenging time for your organization and your employees. To address your data security concerns in these quickly changing times, we’ve compiled several resources to help your data stay safe. If we can be of service, don’t hesitate to reach out. Throughout this crisis, we are committed to keeping your company and customer information secure. 

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Wells fargo email scam

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Hackers Collect Millions from Stolen Payment Card Records

In an increasingly digital-first world, payment card skimming malware has been a growing threat to both customers and retailers – and a profitable business for the bad guys. Unfortunately, that trend is unlikely to abate anytime soon. According to cybersecurity researchers, hackers recently hauled in $1.6 million from selling 239,000 stolen payment cards on the Dark Web.  

The card information was stolen throughout 2019 from as thousands of retailers fell victim to malware. In this web-skimming incident, attackers used malicious JavaScript to steal payment data at checkout from stores hosted on the Volusion cloud platform. Unfortunately, the high yield is likely to incentivize other cybercriminals to pursue payment card skimming, creating a serious liability for companies and customers processing payments online.  

Customers routinely demonstrate an unwillingness to shop at online retailers after a data breach. Making cybersecurity at the point of sale a top priority could be the difference between a flourishing online store and a floundering operation. Any business planning to implement online sales needs to have a strong cybersecurity strategy that works mitigate some of the risk of this means of attack including regular malware assessments and Dark Web monitoring. 

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-get-16-million-for-card-data-from-breached-online-shops/  

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Another Apple email scam example

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Paypal Email Scam - Dont Click

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Latest Apple Scam

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Dark Web Trends

a ransomware attack impacts COVID-19 care, companies ignore basic cybersecurity standards, and the latest risk report finds both reasons for hope and opportunities for improvement at many companies. 

Dark Web ID Trends:

Top Source Hits: ID Theft Forums
Top Compromise Type: Domain 
Top Industry: Finance & Insurance
Top Employee Count: 1-10

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Zoom Tips

We have received numerous questions from clients regarding the Zoom vulnerabilities in the news this past few days. For your own virtual safety, please review the following and let us know if we can help. Zoom responded quickly and mitigated all of the known issues with an impressive one-day turnaround. They also announced new security initiatives worth noting. For more details, refer to: https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/04/01/a-message-to-our-users/ Prevent "Zoom Bombing" by requiring passwords for meetings (checkbox in Zoom admin) Zoom encrypts video, audio, and text chat content between participants. For more details, refer to: https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/04/01/facts-around-zoom-encryption-for-meetings-webinars/ There isn't currently a "better" or "more secure" solution. Microsoft Teams may be a suitable alternative for some organizations. Have additional concerns or questions?  Please contact Alex Lane, Security Engineer, at alex@bitxbit.com   Thank you and be well.

Bit by Bit, 115 West 29th Street, 4th floor, New York, NY 10001

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Canadian Healthcare System Inundated by Cyberattacks

  

The stress created by an emergency like the Coronavirus pandemic is a golden opportunity for hackers. As the Canadian healthcare system grapples with surging treatment demands related to COVID-19, their IT systems are also grappling with a significant uptick in cyberattacks from bad actors trying to steal data and breach systems at healthcare organizations in a critical time.   

The threat is so severe that some organizations have called on the government to enact national cybersecurity standards and provide emergency funding to help defend patient data. We’ve reported on several Canadian health institutions impacted by data breaches this year, and in 2019, nearly half of all Canadian data breaches were healthcare-related. 

According to several officials, many Canadian healthcare providers are midway through their cybersecurity upgrade roadmaps. Their slow progress means that many of their defenses are outdated and inadequate to meet today’s quickly evolving threats to data and systems. 

Don’t wait for your organization’s Doomsday scenario to unfold. Get support now to prevent phishing scams, malware, and other cyber threats from compromising company data. Partnering with cybersecurity experts can help you get your defenses against cyberattacks up to speed faster before a breach occurs. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/hospitals-health-care-cybersecurity-federal-government-funding-1.5493422

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Human Error is a Top Cause of Data Breaches

Human Error is a Top Cause of Data Breaches

Companies face cybersecurity threats on many fronts every day, but human error may be the most pervasive – and the most preventable. A 2019 study analyzing data from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office found that human error played a role in 90% of data breaches last year. This represents a significant increase from just two years ago, when only 61% of breaches were attributed to human error.

The study concluded that phishing scams were the primary cause of breaches with unauthorized access to systems ranking a close second. However, the study’s authors were also quick to point out that while employees represent a noteworthy data privacy risk, they can also serve as a critical defense against cybercriminals. When equipped with the right tools, like phishing scam awareness training, employees can be transformed from a potential weak point into a crucial asset in the fight against cybercriminals and fraud.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/90-data-breaches-human-error/

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

3 GDPR-Covered Countries Experience 100,000 Breaches

It’s been nearly two years since GDPR changed the data privacy landscape by bringing regulatory oversight to the digital Wild West. According to the latest reports, more than 160,000 data breaches have been reported in that span. Incredibly three countries account for 100,00 breaches – The Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

These numbers reflect both the undeniable value of stealing sensitive personal data and the difficulty that many organizations experience when trying to protect that information. As a result, GDPR fines are becoming increasingly common for companies under the regulations’ purview. The ten most significant GDPR breaches have resulted in hefty financial penalties totaling an eye-popping sum of nearly $500 million.

Europe isn’t the only country implementing regulatory standards for data security. In the US, California’s Consumer Privacy Act and New York’s SHIELD Act both reinforce and extend GDPR’s expectations. At ID Agent, our comprehensive Compliance Manager is ready to help your organization achieve, maintain, and document compliance.

https://irishtechnews.ie/top-3-countries-hit-100000-gdpr-data-breaches/

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Peerless Event and Tents help with the Covid outbreak!

Peerless help with Covid outbreak

this is why I like what I do. I get to see my clients innovate and adapt in unique ways! 

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Dark Web ID Trends:

cybercrime makes COVID-19 recovery more difficult, unsecured databases give away millions of records, and resources you need to protect data during this challenging time.   

• Top Source Hits: ID Theft Forums
• Top Compromise Type: Domain
• Top Industry: Media & Entertainment
• Top Employee Count: 251 – 500

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Dark Web Trends

small businesses fail to prevent phishing attacks, online shoppers have their data snatched, and a new study reveals the prominent role of human error in data breaches.

Dark Web ID Trends:Top Source Hits: ID Theft Forums
Top Compromise Type: Domain 
Top Industry: Media & Entertainment
Top Employee Count: 251-500 

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863

Example of a common spoof, don't fall for this..

Double check that it did not come from your account by checking your sent folder..

Remember, don't respond if you don't know. They get you with FUD.. Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt!

Bit by bit helps client networks run smooth and secure.. visit our website at www.bitxbit.com/texas 877.860.5863