Cyber Monday Deals Bring Email Scams
Experts Warn Against Opening Suspicious Messages
Missed the insane lines and bargains of Black Friday but hope to find big deals this Cyber Monday? Well, take caution -- security experts are reminding all of us to be careful when opening any emails promising to save us big bucks this week.
Cyber Monday is the online equivalent of Black Friday. It follows Black Friday and in recent years has been starting to gain on its counterpart in popularity. Last year about $1 billion in online sales were generated on Cyber Monday, and experts believe that number could creep up to about $1.2 billion this November.
Unfortunately, the promise of big bargains opens the door to hackers. It's cause for concern and everyone should be very careful when shopping today, says security expert, Stephen Cobb. "Even more holiday shopping will happen online this year than last, and that means more scammers will be looking to do some shopping of their own—possibly at your expense," Cobb said.
Not surprisingly, the major threat this year comes in the form of the malicious email -- or messages arriving in your inbox that promise to direct you to major deals only to infect your PC with spyware or a virus. Experts warn to only open emails from the most trusted of friends and colleagues, as a result. "Beware of everything and everybody," said Michael Sutton, an executive security expert at Zscaler ThreatLabZ.
The problem with Cyber Monday is that many people do their online shopping not at home but at work, where their clicking around can threaten an entire network rather than just a single PC. That's why some security firms, such as the well-known McAfee, are actually going so far as to recommend that firms block all employee Internet access on Cyber Monday.
Of course, that won't be possible for many companies. As an alternative, security experts are insisting that firms make sure their computers are updated with the latest security software.
For those doing the shopping, it's probably a good idea to visit only major retailers online and to avoid even opening emails promising big bargains this Cyber Monday.
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