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TECHNOLOGY A23
Monday 30 November 2015
Don’t get Grinched by cybercrime during the holiday season
BREE FOWLER That way if one is compro- well, says Tim Francis, the
AP Technology Writer mised, it’s less likely that the head of “cyber insurance”
NEW YORK (AP) — Online others will fall to hackers as policies at Travelers.q
fraud spikes during the holi-
day shopping season, as People look at merchandise while holiday shopping at Best
people searching for the Buy on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015, in Panama City, Fla.
perfect gifts take to cyber-
space and head to tradi- Associated Press
tional stores armed with
their smartphones. nique for shutting would- through, or that an order
“The Pandora’s box of be eavesdroppers out of didn’t ship.
cyberattacks is about your connection — on your Don’t click on links in these
to open,” says Pete Tyr- phone, then free Wi-Fi is emails. It could contain
rell, chief operating offi- safe so long as you have malware or take you to
cer for Digital Guardian, a the VPN on. For most peo- a fake website that looks
Waltham, Massachusetts- ple, though, it’s simply best very much like that of a le-
based data protection to stick to your cellular con- gitimate company. Instead
firm. “The cybercriminals nection. of getting help, you’ll most
are getting more and more Shoppers also need to be likely have your personal in-
creative — and at the end on the lookout for less high- formation stolen.
of the day, it’s your person- tech thieves when shop- Panic over the possibility
al information at risk.” ping online in crowded of not getting a gift in time
Here are some tips for pro- public places like coffee can make people click be-
tecting yourself and your shops, says Nitin Bhandari, fore they think, Kaiser says.
information from online senior vice president for So, it’s best to slow down. If
Grinches. products at Opera Soft- you think an email is genu-
____ ware Solutions. ine, just go directly to the
BEWARE OF GIFTS OF FREE That means keepings your company in question’s
WI-FI screens out of the views main website.
It’s awful tempting to sign of others — even smart- ___
on to a store’s free Wi-Fi phones, which are bigger CHECK YOUR ACCOUNTS
while you’re out shopping, and easier to read from a FOR “NAUGHTY” ACTIVITY
especially since store walls distance than they used to Both during and after the
are notorious for blocking be. holidays, shoppers need
or weakening smartphone ___ to keep a close eye on
data connections. But SWIM AWAY FROM POTEN- their accounts. The easi-
fraudsters also may be lurk- TIAL PHISH est way to do this is to use
ing on the networks, ready Phishing spikes during the the same credit card for all
to use that connection to holiday season. Emails that of your holiday shopping.
steal credit card or other offer great deals on holi- Never use your debit card;
personal information. day gifts or donation pitch- if hackers get ahold of your
“People may want to log es from charities could ac- number, they could clean
on to their Best Buy or Am- tually be attempts to steal out your bank account.
azon accounts to check your credit card or login in- A dedicated email ac-
prices, but open Wi-Fi is formation. Another popular count can also help keep
probably the least secure trick: fake emails suppos- things organized.
place to do that,” says Mi- edly sent by online retailers It’s also a good idea to use
chael Kaiser, executive di- or shippers such as FedEx different user names and
rector of the National Cy- or UPS, saying that a pay- different passwords for your
ber Security Alliance. ment for an order didn’t go various shopping accounts.
And never use open Wi-
Fi connections to check
bank account information.
The last thing you want a
hacker to have is a direct
connection to your bank
account.
If you’re tech-savvy
enough to use VPN soft-
ware — short for “virtual
private network,” a tech-
