Nowadays, a powerful security solution is more than a 'must have', since there are thousands of hackers waiting for a vulnerability in your system. Although it's well known that most attackers want to
get control over your computer, many of them are now aiming to steal your financial information and get access to your money. With the holiday shopping season quickly approaching, all the security companies expect a rise in the number of the web attacks as more hackers will attempt to trick users into disclosing their financial and credit card information.
But what do you think a hacker wants for Christmas? Is it power or only money? In fact, they want everything they can get. A recent research revealed that most attackers steal credit cards and sell them in packs of 100+ pieces along with all kinds of details about the owners. Well, this is that time of the year when all these transactions can be well boosted by an avalanche of attacks based on the online holiday shopping season. As you know, millions of customers will go online on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday to buy all kinds of products. This is probably the perfect moment for attackers to launch their malicious attempts and lure users on dangerous pages.
"Last year we saw a 173 percent spike in spyware in the October to December time frame. Twenty percent of that spike involved new malware; clearly, these thieves are literally breaking out their finest new malware for the season", said Mike Irwin, COO, Webroot Software.
The phishing attacks represent the top activity among holiday hackers, as they want to trick users to disclose their credit card information. Because the users go online for shopping, the attackers send million spam messages to find potential victims, informing them about special offers and promotions for Christmas. Being attracted by them, some of the receivers click on the attached link, believing they visit a famous shopping site. In fact, they are loading a copy of the website which is used by the hacker to conduct the attack. Once they enter their financial details, they actually give the money to the attackers.
"Todays cyber criminals are financially motivated and this is a key moneymaking season for them. With high percentages of online shoppers using their credit and debit cards unaware of the security risks or necessary precautions, its going to be open season for cyber criminals", the Webroot official further mentioned.
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