Phishing Scenario: Malicious email using current events to push malware

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Popular topics (current events) making headlines in the media will often be used by criminals to push malware.  Criminals don’t favor any one topic, so you must assume all topics could potentially be used maliciously.  Whether it is a story on a recent natural disaster, political unrest, social issue, famous person, or a company either being successful or having issues, no topics are off limits.  This example uses Greta Thunberg’s fame, the fact she was named the Person of the Year for Time magazine, climate change and the recent wave of protests (demonstrations) to push malware.  We will go over the example email sent to victims to look at the various warning signs it contained to hopefully protect you and your family from this, and future, attacks.

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Phishing Scenario: User infected with ransomware

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If you have ever wondered how a ransomware infection occurs, this is the story for you.  We will go through the steps of how a phishing email to an unsuspected user resulted in the files on their computer becoming encrypted with ransomware.  Even though this scenario resulted in a computer being infected with ransomware, phishing emails like this one can result in other type of malware/virus infections as well.  As we walk through the phishing scenario, I will provide some tips on how to verify the email is legitimate and point out warning signs that could have alerted the user that the email was malicious and fake.

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Safe internet habits: practice safe searching

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Studies have documented how dangerous internet searches can be.  Naturally the list of the most dangerous search terms change a bit every year, but there are certain search terms that always make the list and some put you at a greater risk than others.  We will discuss which search terms are among the most dangerous while learning some steps you can take to reduce your risk of stumbling on to a malicious website or downloading malicious software.

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What should I do if my device is lost or stolen, if I had malware/a virus on my computer, or if I have fallen victim to a scam?

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If one of your devices (computer, phone, tablet, etc.) is lost or stolen, if you have fallen victim to a scam or if it was infected with malware (a virus), there are some steps you should consider taking to help limit and/or recover from the loss of private, personal and identifiable information (PII).

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