U.S. Labor Day: phishers won’t be on holiday

Holidays are times when we see a big uptick in email retail advertising. They are also a time when we should be especially aware of threats from phishing schemes in all those ads.In that surge of emails promoting holiday sales we can expect fraudulent messages with links to sites that download malicious software or phishing sites set up to steal personal information.Phishing tracker site Phishtank.com, estimates there are more than 2,900 active phishing web sites currently verified on the internet. Popular social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are increasingly attractive platforms for holiday-themed attacks.Here are three simple rules that can help you reduce your risk of becoming a victim:-- Make sure your computer is protected against the newest malware threats by installing a combined antivirus and antispyware solution. This is your first point of protection against dangerous viruses and Trojans – and one without the other is no longer effective.-- Never click on a link in an email to make a credit card purchase. The email you’ve received may look legitimate, but there’s a high probability that the link will take you to a spoofed site where your credit card information will be stolen by cyber criminals. Instead, navigate to the retailer’s Web site directly through your browser. (continue reading...)