Keep your holiday season merry by guarding against cybercriminals

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malware

Sarah Reingewirtz / The Orange County Register via AP

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada announces in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023 the multinational take down operation of Qakbot malware. In their latest disruption of global cybercrime, the FBI and partners in Europe infiltrated and seized control of a major malware network that was used for more than 15 years to commit a gamut of online crimes including crippling ransomware attacks.

We hate to be the bearers of stressful or anxiety-inducing news, but there are now less than 10 days remaining in the pre-Christmas holiday shopping season. Moreover, according to the U.S. Postal Service, today is the final day to postmark greetings cards and other first-class mail in order to have it received by Dec. 25.

Now that we’ve sent you scurrying to your favorite local storefront or online shopping site, we thought it appropriate to provide a few best practices to avoid falling prey to scammers, hackers, thieves, porch pirates and other Grinches looking to take away the joy of giving this holiday season.

  • If you do your shopping online, AAA recommends taking a few basic precautions before providing your financial information to a website. Avoid using public Wi-Fi at airports or cafes that can be easily monitored by cybercriminals looking to steal your credit card number or passwords.
  • Confirm that the address (or URL) of the website you’re using is secure and begins with “https” instead of “http.” The “s” stands for secure. Often, secure websites will display a padlock in the corner of the screen next to the URL. If you don’t see the padlock, you might reconsider entering your information on the site.
  • If you see spelling errors, strange language choices or images on the website that don’t quite make sense, you should find a different company from which to purchase. This can all be signs of a “pharming” scam in which you are automatically redirected, without your consent, from a legitimate website to a copycat website designed to steal your financial information.
  • Secure your most important online accounts with strong passwords and two-factor authorization that will keep…

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