Cyber Security Guide during Lockdown

Although South Africa’s national lockdown will be entering a less restrictive Level 3 phase next week with many more businesses being permitted to start operating more fully again from the 1st of June, employees that can work from are being advised to continue doing so until further notice. Recent research has indicated that the Covid-19 pandemic infection rate will likely peak around the end of June, which means that individuals will still be very susceptible to contracting the virus for several months thereafter. Working from home for those that can makes a lot of sense under such circumstances. During April 2020 there was an unprecedented shift in the management of cyber security protocols and infrastructure as IT admin staff needed to find the best possible solutions in the shortest amount of time for home workers. This included factoring in the reduced control that they would have over users that had less capable product and systems knowledge, which required setting up new protocols and rules to be able to manage the associated risks as effectively as possible.

F-Secure excels in AV-Tests

F-Secure’s business and home anti-malware products have won multiple and consecutive best protection awards from AV-Test, an independent IT-Security institute. As of February this year, F-Secure’s PSB Computer Protection and SAFE both scored perfect marks and hold the Top Product certification from AV-Test.

The Facebook Conundrum

Facebook Inc. is by far the biggest social media company currently in existence and will likely continue to grow its user base. The company has acquired 82 other companies, including the likes of Whatsapp, Instagram, Giphy and Oculus VR. It’s no wonder they’ve become so massive. Facebook Inc. has also faced much scrutiny over data breaches that just seem to keep on happening, with one of the most recent ones having exposed over 267 million user accounts in 2019. This is not something new, yet people continue signing up to use Facebook services with the vast majority accepting the terms of service without a second glance. With features like Facebook Messenger, Facebook Marketplace, Games and integration with the ‘Login with Facebook’ for pretty much any alternative online platform, it’s easy to see why.

F-Secure recognised as Gartner Peer Insights Customer’s Choice for Vulnerability Assessment

F-Secure, a leading provider of cyber security solutions, was named a February 2020 Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for Vulnerability Assessment which is based on feedback and ratings from end-user professionals who have experience purchasing, implementing and/or using the product or service.

Spotted in the Wild

Crafty Cyber Criminals
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought previously unforeseen difficulties to the workplace, forcing the world to retreat to the safety of their homes. For capable industries and companies, employees were tasked with working from home to sustain the economy while quarantine protocols are in effect.

RCS Loan scam
Delivered via email as a word document, cyber criminals are creating loan offers to scam people into providing them with personal and financial information like bank account numbers, addresses, ID numbers, and so on.

Capitec ‘Epayorderform’ login scam
In this particular scam an html document (offline web page) is delivered via email. Opening this document opens an innocent-looking Capitec Bank login page. The page itself is fake and forwards all details provided to an unknown party.

Wonga.Com Loan Scam
This was a PDF attachment to an email with no body (i.e. no text). The noted consultant and email addresses are fake. The domain, consultant.com has also been seen used in other phishing scams dating back to 2011.

TIPS
Avoid falling for scams like these by doing the following