According to research from Black Friday Global, South Africans are planning on spending around R1 735 per person in both online and brick-and-mortar stores this Black Friday, 29 November 2019.
By Heino Gevers, cybersecurity expert at Mimecast
The research also shows that the average shopper will buy 4,5 products on what is said to be the biggest shopping day of the year. But unfortunately, consumers aren’t the only ones to take advantage of Black Friday; cybercriminals do too.
Considering it’s a one-day sale, you’ll likely do most of your shopping during office hours. Which means it’s not only yourself you could be putting at risk, but your employer as well. Hopefully your company already offers regular cybersecurity awareness training, so you should have an idea of how to protect yourself and the reputation of your organisation.
If not, here are five helpful tips from Mimecast to help you get your holiday shopping done without potentially gifting a cybercriminal:
* Do your shopping on a secure network – We’re connected all the time while travelling, grabbing a coffee, or sitting at home. To keep your information–name, address, credit card–and devices safe, always connect to a secure network.
* Don’t click on pop-up ads – Go directly to the vendor’s website or even better, go to their app. Pop-ups may be tempting to click, but if the Black Friday deal is real, it will be on the vendor’s website. Cybercriminals can easily direct you to malicious websites with pop-ups, so it’s best to stay away. For your safest browsing, go directly to the retailer’s website or even better, their app from the Apple or Google Play store.
* Use a unique password when signing up for vendor rewards. Some Black Friday deals may offer an even bigger discount when signing up for a vendor’s rewards program or newsletter. Why not save an extra 10%? When doing so, use a unique password and always use a passphrase. That way, if a criminal gets ahold of that password, they won’t be able to access your other accounts, including email and banking.
* Delete any amazing deals with attachments – Think before you click–when have you ever received an attachment from a well-known retailer? Vendors will include their deals directly in an email, so as tempting as it may be, don’t download an attachment, as it may contain malware.
* Do not forward vendor emails to your friends, family or colleagues, have them go directly to the source – The holiday season is a time of giving but do not forward your emails to friends, family and colleagues. Cybercriminals will pretend to be your favourite retailer to embed malware in an email. So, it’s safest to tell your loved ones about a deal and have them go to the vendor’s website or app, instead of clicking on a potentially dangerous email.