Advent Calendar
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Wishing you a Merry (and secure) Xmas and a Happy New Year.
May your holiday season be hack free so you can enjoy peace of mind over the holiday break.
See you in the New Year!
FROM THE TEAM AT OUTFOX
Beware of fake e-cards during the holiday season.
They can:
Load malware (malicious software) onto your device.
Take you to a phishing site to steal login credentials, or gather information for identity theft.
Use your system to spread malware to everyone in your phone, email and social media contacts.
To protect yourself verify that the sender is a genuine e-card company, and that you know the sender. If anything seems off delete the message immediately.
Banks and government departments won’t ask for your personal or banking details in an email or text.
That’s a Grinchy scammers trick!
Watch out for fake charity scams during the holiday season.
Cybercriminals will hope you are feeling generous, and that extra helping of turkey you had means you won’t look at the web address too carefully.
Best way to stay safe is to go the charity’s web site and see if their web address matches. Many times you’ll find the same request for donations on their site, and it’s safest to use that.
The answer, of course, is to activate your Incident Response Plan.
Don’t have one? Well, it’s your lucky day. We can help you build one, and for a limited time we’ll knock $50 off the price.
Email info@outfox.co.nz with code XMAS-IR to request a booking at the discounted price.
NORMALLY $650, YOU’LL PAY ONLY $600 (+GST)
Code only valid for bookings made by 31 December 2024. Includes bookings for dates in 2025.
Santa might magically deliver his gifts to your tree, but everything else will be mailed.
Cybercriminals will try to take advantage of this by sending you fake “unable to deliver” or “delivery fee required” messages.
Don’t fall for their scams!
Be on the lookout for fake messages about overdue subscription payments or problems for streaming, gaming, and software services.
Cybercriminals know you’re busy at this time of year and will try to sneak things by you.
Watch out for fake holiday themed apps and games. It’s a great time of year for cybercriminals to try and sneak something malicious past your better judgement.
Only download from an official app store to avoid a nasty surprise.
Tell your kids too. Cybercriminals consider them soft targets.
Many e-commerce sites offer to store credit card details to make future purchases easier.
Ideally you should never do this, but if you do, ensure the data is being stored in a secure manner. The site’s terms and conditions page or privacy page should specify this.
Replacing your credit cards is one holiday chore you don’t want to do.
It’s the busy season for spending, and cybercriminals will use that fact to try and sneak their own transactions in, hoping you’ll overlook them.
Monitor your bank accounts regularly for any unusual transactions during the holiday season.
Tis the season for fake job offers targeting holiday job seekers.
Research employers before applying. Verify that the application web-site is the one used by that employer.
Job applications are a great way for cybercriminals to harvest personal information to aid in identity theft and targeted phishing.
Scan QR codes only from trusted sources to avoid phishing and identity theft links.
Most devices will show the underlying link; always examine the link before using it.
Watch out for any signs of tampering on printed QR codes. Cybercriminals have been known to overlay them with stickers with malicious QR codes.
CloseAvoid free Wi-Fi networks in airports and hotels if you are travelling.
They are generally unencrypted and can be easily faked with networks that have similar names.
Cybercriminals can intercept your data, including login credentials. Airports are especially ideal hunting grounds for cybercriminals, in part because there are so many easy victims in one place.
If you must use one, confirm the exact network name with a staff member, use a VPN, and avoid accessing anything sensitive.
Ideally just avoid them and use your phone to hotspot to stay safe.
Secure your business for the New Year! Book a Cyber Resilience Warrant of Fitness for your business by 31 December 2024 and you’ll save a whopping $1000.
Email info@outfox.co.nz with code CRWF1000 to request a booking at the discounted price.
THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS SECURE!
Code only valid for bookings made by 31 December 2024. Includes bookings for dates in 2025.
Make sure their devices are fully updated before letting them connect to your Wi-Fi.
Don’t let sneaky hackers hitch a ride!
Before you shut down for your holiday, make sure you back up your systems and keep a copy offline in case of ransomware attacks over the break.
Use a personal email address if that is needed for a transaction.
If you keep personal online interactions separate from work ones, you can avoid the risk of cross infections, just in case you do get fooled by an attacker.
A minimum of 15 characters or more is best, but no less than 8.
Make every password unique. NEVER re-use passwords across sites or services.
Manually create passwords by running words together, e.g. correcthorsebatterystaple.
If you are serious about passwords, ask Santa to get you a Password Manager app and use it to create (and remember for you) completely random passwords, e.g. cJRt@H#NDAk4M8l.
The run-up to the Xmas season can be hectic, and cybercriminals will try to take advantage.
Alert staff to watch for Xmas themed phishing and fake websites. Turn off unnecessary devices if your office shuts down over the holiday.
Stay vigilant!
Book a one hour session where we’ll brief your team about the latest cyber threats & scams, who’s behind them, and how they operate. We cover global trends, common attack methods like phishing, and practical tips on how to stay safe online.
Email info@outfox.co.nz with code CTA150 to request a booking at the discounted price.
NORMALLY $300, YOU’LL PAY ONLY $150 (+GST)
Code only valid for bookings made by 31 December 2024. Includes bookings for dates in 2025.
This information can be used by scammers to target loved ones with phishing, and burglars will know when you are away.
Common phishing tactics include scams like pretending to be the person travelling, saying they have been robbed, and that they need you to send money.
Just remember to let Santa know where you’ll be, so he can still deliver your gifts!
Protect your loved ones or staff by ensuring all updates are installed before use, and that you immediately change any factory-preset usernames and passwords.
This includes any electronic device which can be connected to the internet directly (e.g. Wi-Fi or ethernet) or via another device (e.g. Bluetooth or USB).
Enjoy a jolly 50% off the normal retail price of all cyber resilience Certification + Training packages!
Use code XMAS-A-50 when paying annually, or XMAS-M-50 when paying monthly.
YOU COULD SAVE UP TO $120 OFF THE NORMAL RETAIL PRICE!
Codes only valid for purchases made by 31 December 2024.
Check out our list of what you need to watch out for, so your festivities won’t be ruined.