MADISON, WI (WTAQ) — Technology has become more important than ever in the era of COVID-19, and as such, cyber criminals are become more and more emboldened.
More people working, learning, and living from home mean more opportunities for pilferers to part people from their hard earned money.
Susan Bach with the Better Business Bureau says an important first line of defense is your computers antivirus program.
“Make sure of course that you’re running the most current version of your antivirus or antimalware software make sure that you regularly install updates,” Bach told WTAQ.
But the bad guys aren’t just planting trojans on your computer to steal your passwords with keyloggers or using ransomware viruses to force you to pay them in bitcoin to get your files back. No, they’re using cunning social engineering tactics to trick you when your guard is down.
“There’s a very common scam that we call business email compromise scams,” explained Bach. “You get an email pretending to be from your boss making some strange request.”
That request might be for your password or for you to put money on a gift card and send it to some strange place.
“We want to make sure if you get an usual request from your boss, or from someone within your company, that you always call them to verify before you act,” said Bach.
Companies should remain particularly vigilant, as scams and cyber attacks targeting businesses often rely on just one person clicking just one link.
“In terms of network security,” said Bach. “You’re only as strong as your weakest link.”
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