FortiGuard
Labs Researchers Suggest Holiday Shoppers Protect Themselves Using a
Number of
Easy-to-Follow Techniques, Both Online and Off
Dubai, UAE., November 27, 2014 – As Black Friday and Cyber
Monday approach – the two busiest shopping days of the year – Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), a global leader in high-performance network
security, and its research division FortiGuard Labs, are warning shoppers to be
wary of several common scams this holiday season, and have issued important
tips than can keep consumers safe, both when shopping online or at
brick-and-mortar stores. The full report can be found on the Fortinet
blog. http://blog.fortinet.com/post/secure-your-holiday-shopping
Looming
Threats for Holiday Shoppers:
- ATM Fraud: ATM fraud continues to be a way for criminals to make a fast buck, from “jackpotting” cash machines, to installing malware directly on the ATM, to skimming card data and recording your PIN. This holds especially true during the holiday season, when more people are stockpiling cash for post Thanksgiving sales.
- Point-of-Sale Kiosk Malware: Infected Point of Sale Kiosks and other compromised systems have been responsible for major retail breaches over the last year. A device can become compromised without physical access to the register. And it sometimes takes retailers a while to detect and neutralize the breach.
- Online Scams and Infected Retail Sites: As with retail shopping, malware designed to pilfer credit card information and then hand it over to cyber thieves runs rampant during the holiday season. In that same vein, keep your eye out for fake online stores that peddle counterfeit goods at too-good-to-be true prices.
How
Consumers Can Protect Themselves This Holiday Season:
- Shop only at those stores – online or offline – that you know and trust.
- Use a credit card as opposed to a debit card to ensure fraud protection.
- Use a credit card from a financial institution that offers one-time use, time-limited or virtual credit card numbers.
- When shopping online, be sure to transmit financial information via SSL for a secure connection.
- Only download shopping applications from an official app store; and delete the app if it asks for too much information at registration.
- Never click on a link in an email – especially if the email claims to be from your bank.
- Use a “Live CD” or dedicated browser when conducting online searches and shopping activities.
“This
year, spending on holiday shopping is expected to increase significantly from
last year, with more than half of that increase coming from shoppers using
smartphones,” said Alain
Penel, regional vice president – Middle East at Fortinet. “Buyers need to
beware of possible threats to their personal and financial information whether
online, on their phones or in-store.
Knowing what to watch for and taking measures to protect themselves and
their devices is critical to avoid being impacted.”
About FortiGuard Labs
The FortiGuard Labs global
research team continuously monitors the evolving threat landscape and
distributes on a daily basis to Fortinet customers worldwide preventative
measures to protect those customers from newly introduced, sophisticated
cyber-threats. More than 200 researchers and automated detection and prevention
technology provide around-the-clock coverage to ensure your network stays
protected, despite a sophisticated and ever-changing threat landscape. FortiGuard Labs delivers rapid updates and
detailed security knowledge, providing protection from the latest threats.
About Fortinet
Fortinet
(NASDAQ: FTNT) helps protect networks, users and data from continually evolving
threats. As a global leader in high-performance network security, we
enable businesses and governments to consolidate and integrate broad, high
functioning security to prevent cyber-attacks, without suffering performance
penalties. Unlike costly, inflexible and
low-performance alternatives, Fortinet solutions empower customers to embrace
new technologies and business opportunities while protecting essential systems
and content. Learn more at www.fortinet.com, or follow Fortinet at the Fortinet Blog, Google+, Linkedin or Twitter.
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