Cybersecurity News
A Service of XSI's Cyber Range — I.C.E. (Integrated Cyber Environment)
• If there's not a picture of a lock at the beginning of the web address, don't enter any personal information onto the website.
• The last place you see a ".com," ".org," or other suffix in the web address is the actual website you're visiting.
• This string of letters shows how the website is constructed. It's not of any use to visitors.
• This is the name of the page you're visiting. Here, it's the homepage.
• This long string of numbers (and letters) is the ID given to this specific visit to the website.
Cybercrooks create web addresses that appear to be genuine,
so you'll enter your passwords and financial information onto their sites.
Can you spot which of the web addresses is real or fake?
Be wary of an email that claims you’re mentioned in a Google Doc or Google Sheets spreadsheet. Cybersecurity company Avanan says scammers have discovered a new phishing technique that's highly effective. They create a Google doc that includes someone’s name, and that user automatically receives an alert to view the doc. There, the user is instructed to enter a password to continue reading. Scammers then have access to the user's Google password.
AT&T is alerting nearly 9 million of its roughly 110 million wireless customers that some of their personal information has been stolen by hackers. That information likely includes the type of phones they have and the AT&T plans they’re on. The information was stolen from an AT&T vendor.
The FTC is fining the online counseling site BetterHelp for disclosing information about its subscribers. 2.5 million BetterHelp users pay to be connected to a network of 23,000 therapists. MediaPost says personal health information about BetterHelp’s customers has been shared with Facebook, Pinterest, and Snapchat in order to sell targeted advertising.
Scammers are still thriving by sending emails to victims telling them to purchase gift cards.
Don't respond. It's a rip-off.
Use your mouse to drag the slider from left to right to spot clues in this gift card scam.
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Hervia Ingram
Xtreme Solutions
“I have heard that TikTok collects a huge amount of personal information from its users. Is that true?”
Like Facebook and Snapchat, TikTok collects information about your browsing habits by default — even if you’re not using the app. These apps collect and monetize the data by showing ads that reflect your interests. But they can also use the data to track your location, monitor messages you send to friends over their apps, access your calendar, and according to Forbes, potentially track what you type on websites. So, review the privacy settings on your TikTok account. And the Freedom of the Press Foundation recommends that if you’re using TikTok as an individual instead of a business, set your account to “private.”
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“I set my web browser to Incognito mode, so I can’t be tracked when I’m online. Is that enough?”
No. Google recently prevailed in a court case involving Incognito mode on its popular Chrome browser. Indeed, Google tracks your behavior even when Incognito is turned on. Consumer Reports says users should consider privacy-focused browsers like Brave, Firefox, and DuckDuckGo if privacy is important to you.
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“I received a request on my PayPal dashboard to pay $1,399.99. I know it’s a phishing scam, but I hesitate to delete it for fear of acknowledging the email. PayPal said to ignore it. Should I delete it or ignore it?”
Forward the email to phishing@paypal.com and delete it from your inbox.
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