14 DAY TRIAL // Security researchers warn that spammers have already launched campaigns exploiting people's interest into the upcoming Presidents' Day holiday,
Washington's Birthday, also known as Presidents' Day, is one of the eleven annual United States federal holidays and among the most celebrated ones.
The holiday is celebrated on the third Monday in February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States.
Interest in this holiday is pretty high and various traditions are associated with it, but unfortunately, cybercriminals are ready to take advantage of that.
Security researchers from Symantec report already seeing Presidents' Day-themed spam runs via email and social networking sites.
"[...] Spammers have yet again begun providing fake offers by promoting products at discounted prices," writes Symantec security expert Samir Patil.
Presidents' Day sales are common, but people should only use trusted shopping sites. Buying from spam pages, not only results in poor quality products, but also also credit card fraud.
Like with other holidays, sending e-cards is also practiced by some on Presidents' Day, but users should be extra cautious because passing malware as e-cards is a common tactic used by cybercriminals.
Searching on the Web for information related to Presidents' Day events can also be dangerous, as malware distributors are in the habit of poisoning search results with malicious links during holidays.
To stay safe, people are advised to keep their operating systems and software up to date, particularly the most popular applications like the browser, Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Reader or Java Runtime. Surfing with an up-to-date antivirus program installed is also critically important.
Symantec's Samir Patil warns that some newly created Facebook groups encourage people to send SMS spam on Presidents' Day at a certain hour. Users are advised to not engaged in such activities, as they are not only unethical, but also potentially illegal.