The sales season brings opportunities as well as risks due to the increase in scams and cyber threats
Black Friday arrived in Brazil in 2010 and since then it has been one of the most anticipated dates for consumers, who take advantage of the promotions to secure the most varied products. According to a survey by Mercado Livre, one of the largest marketplaces operating in the country, 851% of consumers intend to make purchases on Black Friday this year, an increase of five percentage points compared to 2023. However, along with purchases, scams and frauds are also on the rise.
THE Trend Micro, a global leader in cybersecurity, warns companies about the risks of the period and the need to take preventive measures to raise employee awareness and protect the attack surface. “Digital purchases increase at the end of the year and attackers start working harder to mislead consumers through malicious offers,” highlights Fabio Augusto, Senior Sales Engineer at Trend Micro.
The executive says that employees of retailers and marketplaces are often prime targets for malicious hackers because companies run promotional campaigns aimed at their internal audiences. “Many brands distribute discount coupons and carry out actions aimed at their own employees, who, if not properly trained, may take the bait and end up being the gateway for scammers,” explains Fábio.
To shield the attack surface from threats, companies must invest in:
– Awareness campaigns among employees: It is essential to conduct phishing training using the strategies most commonly used by scammers. The Trend Vision One™ platform allows you to simulate malicious attacks with reports that map the most susceptible endpoints, identifying who clicked on the link and who viewed it, to promote the reinforcement of good practices among this audience. Remember: cybersecurity requires culture, education and awareness to avoid the exploitation of vulnerabilities;
– Solutions for protecting workstations, such as Trend Vision One™ – Endpoint Security (Essentials/PRO) and Trend Vision One™ – Email and Collaboration Security guarantee protection of the messaging layer and collaborative applications such as Teams and Microsoft Office 365;
– Data encryption, to protect all information transmitted between the client and the server. This is a way to keep sensitive data, such as credit card information, safe;
– XDR platform, to add intelligence to data processing and monitor unexpected behavior in the environment. Trend Vision One™ Attack Surface Risk Management (ASRM) protects hybrid environments by mapping the attack surface and quantifying risk in a structured and manageable way;
Consumers should take certain measures to avoid falling for scams such as phishing, the most common type of scam used by attackers. “The first step is to look for typos in the body of the email or in the sender’s name. The same goes for when accessing a URL. Always check the spelling of the domain and the authenticity of the website before making a purchase,” recommends the Trend Micro specialist.
The dissemination of fake promotions, copies of official stores or bank messages via SMS, with the aim of making the user click on an infected link or provide banking information, multiply at this time of year and require consumers to be extra careful. It is preferable, for example, to type the address directly into the browser rather than clicking on links whose origin cannot be verified.
Sales volume reaches exponential levels on Black Friday and every minute offline can represent a loss of millions for retailers. Just as falling into a trap by clicking on a malicious link can cause a huge headache for the consumer. “The world of fraud is made up of waiting for the right opportunity and making the most profit with the least effort. Taking a proactive approach to protect your systems, data and, above all, ensuring a safe shopping experience is essential for anyone who wants to buy and sell online,” concludes Fábio Augusto.
About Trend Micro
Trend Micro, a global leader in cybersecurity, helps make the world a safer place to exchange digital information. Powered by decades of cybersecurity expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro’s AI-powered cybersecurity platform protects hundreds of thousands of individuals and organizations across the cloud, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise cybersecurity, Trend Micro delivers a powerful array of advanced threat defenses optimized for environments such as AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for faster, better detection and response. With 7,000 employees across 70 countries, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure and simplify their connected world.
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