It’s up to you to protect yourself online, but we want to warn you about some of the most manipulative ways cybercriminals have recently been targeting your accounts and how you can protect yourself even more.
Sometimes we just need to hear those words of affirmation we say in front of the mirror, right? Walmart wants to add a few more words of affirmation and warning, because cybercriminals are getting better at what they do.
Walmart’s cyber threat intelligence released a report in August that includes analysis on some of the recent trends we have seen in cybercriminal activity and behaviors.
There is a lot of information out there during cybersecurity awareness month, so here’s what we really want you to know:
Cybercriminals keep getting better at socially engineering or manipulating us, by impersonating people we know or think we know, to ask for information. They want to access your accounts, so they can use your accounts for other criminal activity or to sell it.
Cybercriminals are getting better on their own and with some help from generative artificial intelligence at impersonating or masquerading as people we think we know, with video and audio content creation, to get us to click on malicious hyperlinks.
Some of those links in text messages or social media platforms or email take us to a controlled website that looks and feels like websites we know or websites we expect, so they can harvest or collect any information we input into that website or web portal. Sometimes these attempts are just asking you to reset your password or to sign into a platform you have an account on to presumably confirm some suggested account change. If you didn’t ask for it, don’t click on it.
We continue to see passwords that have not been made complex enough ‘cracked’ by cybercriminals using automated programs. They steal these passwords and use them to gain access to your accounts or sell them to other cybercriminals.
We recognize that passwords are difficult to remember, but using a long phrase that is meaningful to you is often the best way to make a strong, complicated password. Making a password with a few numbers and characters added to the phrase “CybercriminalsLoveMyAccounts” is much stronger than a password related to my birthday. You can also use a password manager to help you safely keep your passwords. It’s up to you.
The simplest thing you can do to make your accounts safe from most cybercriminals out there is to enable multi-factor authentication (MFA). Most providers do not make this mandatory because they want their customers to choose. We also make this an option but going back to those words of affirmation and warning, if you really want to protect your accounts online, you need to enable MFA.
If you’re the kind of person like many of our customers who wants to have the most protected accounts possible online, you can find this information rather easily in your account profile.
We have also organized nearly everything you can think of related to safety and security online right here, if you have questions or need more information.
We aren’t trying to scare you, but we want to encourage you to take one or maybe two of these steps we recommended to make yourself and your family safer online. It’s up to you.
You’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggone it, cybercriminals love you! was originally published in Walmart Global Tech Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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It’s up to you to protect yourself online, but we want to warn you about some of the most manipulative ways cybercriminals have recently been targeting your accounts and how you can protect yourself even more.Sometimes we just need to hear those words of affirmation we say in front of the mirror, right? Walmart wants to add a few more words of affirmation and warning, because cybercriminals are getting better at what they do.Walmart’s cyber threat intelligence released a report in August that includes analysis on some of the recent trends we have seen in cybercriminal activity and behaviors.There is a lot of information out there during cybersecurity awareness month, so here’s what we really want you to know:Cybercriminals keep getting better at socially engineering or manipulating us, by impersonating people we know or think we know, to ask for information. They want to access your accounts, so they can use your accounts for other criminal activity or to sell it.Cybercriminals are getting better on their own and with some help from generative artificial intelligence at impersonating or masquerading as people we think we know, with video and audio content creation, to get us to click on malicious hyperlinks.Some of those links in text messages or social media platforms or email take us to a controlled website that looks and feels like websites we know or websites we expect, so they can harvest or collect any information we input into that website or web portal. Sometimes these attempts are just asking you to reset your password or to sign into a platform you have an account on to presumably confirm some suggested account change. If you didn’t ask for it, don’t click on it.We continue to see passwords that have not been made complex enough ‘cracked’ by cybercriminals using automated programs. They steal these passwords and use them to gain access to your accounts or sell them to other cybercriminals.We recognize that passwords are difficult to remember, but using a long phrase that is meaningful to you is often the best way to make a strong, complicated password. Making a password with a few numbers and characters added to the phrase “CybercriminalsLoveMyAccounts” is much stronger than a password related to my birthday. You can also use a password manager to help you safely keep your passwords. It’s up to you.The simplest thing you can do to make your accounts safe from most cybercriminals out there is to enable multi-factor authentication (MFA). Most providers do not make this mandatory because they want their customers to choose. We also make this an option but going back to those words of affirmation and warning, if you really want to protect your accounts online, you need to enable MFA.If you’re the kind of person like many of our customers who wants to have the most protected accounts possible online, you can find this information rather easily in your account profile.We have also organized nearly everything you can think of related to safety and security online right here, if you have questions or need more information.We aren’t trying to scare you, but we want to encourage you to take one or maybe two of these steps we recommended to make yourself and your family safer online. It’s up to you.You’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggone it, cybercriminals love you! was originally published in Walmart Global Tech Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Article Link: You’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggone it, cybercriminals love you! | by Tim Pappa | Walmart Global Tech Blog | Oct, 2024 | Medium
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