The IRS’s tax filing season is a prime time for identity thieves to steal money. The FTC states that tax identity theft occurs, “…when a person uses someone else’s Social Security number to either file a tax return and claim the victim’s refund, or to earn wages that are reported as the victim’s income, leaving the victim with the tax bill.”
Imagine you’re working on an important project with a tight deadline. Sadly, your computer is running much slower than usual. You’re waiting a long time just to open a PowerPoint presentation. You begin to ask yourself, “Does my computer have a virus?” The following are some obvious signs to look out for.
Individual researchers discovered two new vulnerabilities, called Spectre and Meltdown. The flaws allow attackers to access and read sensitive data on computers, tablets, and smartphones. This affects devices from a variety of vendors, including Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Amazon.
Cybercriminals use undercover websites on the deep web to sell confidential data, discuss plans for attacking businesses, and launch malware attacks. Since security breaches are on the rise, you will find there’s an increased need to track private data on the dark web so you can protect your business and clients.
Bad Rabbit is attacking businesses around the world. Impacted users picked up the malware from hacked news and media websites. The malware recommends website visitors download a phony Adobe Flash update. When the person installs this fake update, the ransomware will encrypt data on the device and extort victims in exchange for the decryption key.
National Cyber Security Awareness Month was created to raise awareness of the role cybersecurity plays in everyone’s lives. Since the emergence of major cybersecurity events, such as the WannaCry ransomware attacks and the Equifax breach, there’s now an even greater urgency to adopt safer cybersecurity practices.
Hackers breached Equifax by exploiting a security hole in the website application and stealing personal data from an estimated 143 million Americans. Equifax is one of the big three credit reporting bureaus. They work with companies, banks, retailers, landlords, and lenders to retrieve the credit history of the organization’s customers.
Watch out for opportunistic cybercriminals trying to make a profit from Hurricane Harvey. They will send out messages pretending to be a charity collecting donations for the disaster victims. In reality, these fake charities will pocket the proceeds for themselves and send nothing to the victims.
The easiest way to hack an IT system is by manipulating a user, rather than a machine. Social engineering allows hackers to gain access to data, systems, or buildings by exploiting human psychology. Cybercriminals can carry out social engineering attacks on the internet, over the phone, and in person.
A Trojan horse is a malicious program disguised as legitimate software. Trojan horses pretend to provide helpful or fun features, such as PDF to Excel conversion software. However, some of these “free resources” may be bundled with malware that can take over your computer. The Trojan horse will then download malicious software in the background.