UK Cyber Intelligence Unit ‘National Cyber Security Center’ has issued a warning that the Black Friday sales could be targeted by cyber crooks from national and international levels. So, the UK’s cybersecurity defense agency, a part of GCHQ has warned all shoppers to stay cautious while shopping for the deal pickings.
Readers of the Cybersecurity Insiders have to notify a fact over here that this warning happens to be the first official alert issued by NCSC in a run-up to the Christmas shopping season.
The NSCS warning on possible cyber attacks comes at the right time when trade analysts expect billions of money to be spent by shoppers in this season.
“It’s vital that knowledge is shared engaging public over the seriousness of the cyber threat”, said Ian Levy, the technical director of NCSC.
Ian added that his security agency has been involved in trying to tackle more than 608 significant cyber incidents in the past 12 months, out of which 380 were on the government’s critical infrastructure.
More than 140,000 phishing websites used by fraudsters were shut down by the cybercrime units says, Levy.
Staying safe doesn’t require immense technical knowledge said MR. Levy after issuing advice to reduce the risk of cybercrime as follows-
1.) Always choose strong passwords which are alpha-numeric and include at least one special character and a single uppercase letter.
2.) Install the latest software and app updates
3.) Never click on email links, and type in the shopping website’s name in the browser
4.) See that the payment webpage has an HTTPS mark in the beginning on the link in the browser
5.) Never overshare any info with shops like saving card details and disclosing your OTP.
6.) Keep an eye on your bank account statement at least once in a month
7.) Do not panic if you become a victim of a cyber scam and do report it to the law enforcement through proper channel- as it helps others in alerting on time.
