AMSTERDAM, 30th of March 2010. The biggest cyber threat of the year is around the corner! With the upcoming FIFA World Cup and more than 1 billion football fans around the world behind the screens, it will be inevitable to have victims. The email security provider SpamExperts issues an extra warning and more tips to prevent you from becoming one of them.
Especially with large events such as the World Cup, cybercriminals target fans in order to gain large profits. With today's ease of purchasing entrance tickets, well-organized trips or accessorizes online, cybercriminals do not have to put much effort in reaching their targets. A well disguised link or website will lead the victims to the predator. Filling out contact or credit-card details can lead to a loss of of money or even to virtual identity theft.
“Internet users can easily be misled with the prominent subject of football and that has to be prevented”, says Nils Decker, Marketing & Sales Director at SpamExperts. “To not fall victim, it is essential to protect your entire network with highly accurate anti-spam and virus software.“.
Besides this, a few simple things can be done to not become one of the victims:
1.Do not give out any personal - or bank details, neither passwords. Rather use a password-maker that generates the password for you and never automatically save your password, when asked for by your software.
2.Be suspicious when reading your emails. Do not open attachments if you do not know the sender. Don't click on hyperlinks that are included in the message or make sure that the destination URL is a website you would like to visit.
3.Always check whether the website you are visiting really is the one you are intending to visit. Slight peculiarities (“unclean design”, color mismatches etc.) often indicate a phishing site. Also always double-check if a valid SSL certificate is used when entering private data.Spam
With this in mind, fans can focus and prepare themselves to support their country, and enjoy all excitement around the upcoming event.
