Tips for blocking scammers

Scams, and cyber-attacks are constantly in the news. It’s hard to keep up. Vulnerabilities can be human, through social engineering, or centre on equipment, such as Wi-Fi routers.

Social engineering

Social engineering techniques con people into letting their guard down, leaving the business open to fraud. Conduct regular training, brainstorming examples and scenarios with your team, with input from your IT provider:

1. Be alert to requests for credit card or bank numbers, business information such as contact details for the business’ directors, personal identifying information such as birthdates, or other clues to passwords paving the way for hackers
2. Brief the team that, if a call seems suspect, they take the caller’s details, and call (from a different phone) to confirm that the call is legitimate with your manager, your IT provider, or whomever the scammer has masqueraded as.

D-Link routers under attack

Although it’s the least visible piece of office equipment, wireless internet routers have been targeted by cybercriminals. The Mirai malware botnet variant known as ‘MooBot’ re-emerged in a new attack wave, targeting vulnerable routers made by D-Link.

Users of compromised D-Link routers might notice a slowdown in internet speeds, unresponsiveness, overheating, or unusual setting changes. Contact your IT security team and internet network providers immediately. Don’t forget to install all the latest updates across your routers and internet-connected devices.

Make sure you have a secure backup solution and consider a comprehensive security application that includes SMS (text) filtering as well as anti-theft, antivirus, and internet protection.

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