’Tis the season for cybercrime

With Black Friday and the festive season looming, online shoppers must protect themselves.

Attacks also ramp up on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

With Black Friday and the festive season around the corner, online shoppers should take steps to protect themselves from cybercrime and online phishing attacks, cybersecurity and anti-virus provider Kaspersky Lab says.

Black Friday creates an easy space for cyber attackers to infiltrate common online payment system brands, such as Mastercard or Visa, or via popular online retail brands, like Amazon or eBay.

Kaspersky Lab, in its annual review of new financial phishing attacks detected during holiday sales season, found the day after Black Friday, called Grey Saturday, is a safer day to shop as Black Friday and Cyber Monday are very popular shopping days and thus provide greater opportunities to phishing attackers.

The Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index surveyed respondents from over 30 countries and found attacks on Grey Saturday dropped in both 2016 and 2015. In 2016, there was a decline of 33% in the attacks via popular online retail and payment brands.

Although Black Friday is relatively new in SA, more consumers are beginning to see the convenience of shopping online, especially during the holiday season.

Nadezhda Demidova, lead analyst at Kaspersky Lab, said the rise in e-commerce and online shopping has led to an increase in cybercrime and phishing attacks and the holiday season makes it easier for scammers to hide.

“On Grey Saturday, the number of attacks drop significantly. Weekends generally see lower numbers of attacks and fewer people online – but on this big shopping day that’s an extra advantage. We expect this trend from 2016 to continue in 2017, so if you plan on shopping online these holidays, choose the day wisely,” she added.

According to Kaspersky Lab, phishing is one of the most popular ways of stealing personal information, from payment card details and credentials to online bank accounts. Setting up a phishing scheme mainly relies on getting people to voluntarily part with personal and financial information in the belief they are dealing with a known brand.

Originally spread via e-mails – phishing is now also carried out through website banners and pop-ups, links, instant messaging, SMS, forums, blogs and social media.

The Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index revealed that for the first half of 2017, 42% of South Africans in the 25 to 34 age group were affected by cybercrime.