When you think of the holidays, chances are you think of delicious desserts, warm crackling fires, and time with family and friends. However, when hackers and phishers think of the holidays they think of one thing—easy money. The influx of sale emails and holiday shopping deals often serve as a distraction from dangerous emails loaded with ransomware and attempts at phishing. What threats could you face and how can you protect your computer?
Phishing
Phishing is a popular scam, especially during the holidays. On a basic level, phishing is when someone tries to get private information from you (a password, social security number, bank account number, routing number, etc.) by pretending to have a legitimate reason. These attacks frequently spike during tax season with phony emails from the IRS and during the holiday season in fake sales emails or package delivery notifications. Phishing emails can also include ransomware.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a dangerous development in hacking where a seemingly legitimate link is clicked, a dangerous file is downloaded, and eventually the file takes over a portion of your files or your entire hard drive through encryption. Once the hacker activates the ransomware, the affected information will be locked with a key that can only be unlocked by them after you pay a hefty fee. Because you and your business rely on computers so much, ransomware is an easy way for dangerous criminals to make money off of you during the holidays.
Protect Your Company and Your Network
The best way to protect yourself from attempts at phishing and ransomware is by using proactive IT through Computer Services Unlimited, Inc. Once your computer is locked by hackers, there is little to be done. However, by installing antivirus software, aggressive spam filters, and listening to the guidance of our knowledgeable IT consultants, you can prevent that mess from ever happening in the first place. Proactive IT services are centered around the idea that the best defense is a good offense, and the expense in the short term adds up to huge savings in the long term—imagine if your business’s entire computer network turned into expensive paperweights due to a ransomware file that one employee downloaded under the guise of tracking a package! Proactive IT allows you control over your network and unparalleled protection around the clock.
Holiday Season Scams by Max Minkov
One Client Shares His Experience…
“CSU proactively manages our entire IT infrastructure and consistently provides excellent service and recommendations. This has provided us a level of comfort and security that allows me to focus on growing my business while CSU focuses on the IT systems needed to support our operations. I have found CSU to be more qualified and responsive than any other IT firm out there while also being less expensive! I highly recommend CSU to any company looking for professional IT support!”
David E. Miller, Principal
Terrain Title & Escrow Company
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