Industry insiders have sounded the alarm, warning businesses and individual consumers about the potential threats coming for the holiday shopping season. First up is the annual Amazon Prime Day, which is already proving to be a tempting target for many cybercriminals. According to a recent study, which analyzed hundreds of millions of web pages, phishing and fraudulent websites that use the Amazon brand and logos are already in place to take advantage of this week’s Prime Day sales. This year shoppers are expected to make more purchases than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. A boost in consumer activity is anticipated due to the continued closure of shopping malls and other retail stores across the country.
You might be wondering how phishing attacks in Boston would be a threat to businesses, especially with Prime Day and other online shopping events being aimed at consumers. However, when you consider just how many organizations now have employees working from home – either on their own personal devices or using company equipment – it becomes apparent that the threat could be even more significant than the experts imagine. Excited shoppers who want to get a good deal are often guilty of not paying close attention to the links they click on and end up on a nefarious web page created by cybercriminals. Not only is their financial data at risk, such as credit card details and other personal identifiable information, but their lapse in judgment might result in providing access to sensitive corporate information due to security vulnerabilities in the company network.
What Are Fake Sites?
When it comes to Boston cybersecurity services for business, learning how to identify phishing scams should be at the top of the list. Employee education and support are crucial and should be provided by a professional service, such as Synivate. Our team of highly trained and knowledgeable technicians and IT support staff have many years of experience working with clients to ensure that their team members do not fall for phishing and fraudulent website tactics. Fake sites are created by cybercriminals to mimic legitimate websites, such as Amazon during the Prime Day events. The information requested by the fake site allows cybercriminals to hack into the individual’s personal data. If they are using a personal computer for remote working or are logging in on a company device, they might even be able to gain access to company emails and essential data.
Cybercriminals are skilled at identifying opportunities like this to take advantage of individuals when their guard is down. Companies need to do everything they can to ensure that they provide valuable employee education and support designed to protect their network from these human vulnerabilities. The phishing campaigns become even more creative and strategic each year, finding new ways to dupe shoppers into providing financial and personal data that they can then exploit. Some campaigns target order cancellations, returns, or even shipping information, sending emails that appear to be from Amazon in the hopes that the individual will click on the link and then enter the required details. Fake web addresses that are so long you can’t tell where they originate, and cybercriminals often use masked addresses that look legitimate.
How to Identify Phishing Scams
The more you learn about the methods used for common phishing attacks in Boston, the easier it is to spot them and avoid clicking on the links or visiting the web pages that the cybercriminals use for their scams. Phishing emails used to be a lot easier to identify. They were often filled with bad spelling, grammatical errors, or relied on crazy stories to get individuals to click on links. Most people know that they aren’t due to inherit $25 million from a prince in a far-off land, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t fall for something more strategic, such as an email that was crafted to look like it came from their company’s own IT department. Today’s criminals learn how to personalize and target emails to include your name and other essential information to fool you into clicking on them. These fine-tuned emails are known in the industry as “spear-phishing” because of the degree that they are targeted to the recipient. However, other telltale signs can be spotted, and with employee education and support, you can make sure that your team is prepared for anything.
If you would like to learn more about our Boston cybersecurity services at Synivate or want to discuss your needs for network security and other innovative technology solutions, contact our team directly at 617-848-1248. We can answer any questions you might have about strategies and support for phishing attacks in Boston and the surrounding area or provide a FREE evaluation and consultation. No pressure, no obligation, just honest and friendly advice from our team of highly trained and experienced technology experts.