Cyber Grinch

Posted by mctracy On December 12, 2022

Throughout the holiday season it may be difficult to get into the spirit with cyber security stress hanging over your shoulders with online shopping, booking trips, and sending packages. Here are some tips to keep your cyber-Grinch at bay.

“It's common for scammers to lure people in with fake deals and offers during the holiday season. They may promise deep discounts on popular items or claim to have limited-time offers that are too good to pass up. They may also create fake websites or emails that look like they are from legitimate companies to trick people into giving them sensitive information, such as credit card numbers or bank account information.” (The Hacker News).

In addition to traditional holiday hacking methods, a new bot is scoping cyberspace known as Grinch bots.

“A ‘bot’ refers to any software program designed to simulate a human user on the internet. There are ‘good’ bots—such as the web crawlers Google uses to index the internet—and there are ‘bad bots,’ used for things like account-takeover attacks (to gain access to financial accounts or personal data) and inventory scalping.” (Fast Company). “Inventory-scalping bots, aka “Grinch bots,” tend to proliferate as the holidays approach. Last year, bot-related attacks on retail sites grew 10% in October, and another 34% in November, according to data published by cybersecurity firm Imperva in its 2022 Bad Bot Report.”

As always, it is beneficial to follow the traditional cyber security strategies to prevent cyber-attacks.

“Always check the URL of the website you're visiting. If it starts with "HTTPS," the site uses encryption to protect your data. Be on the lookout for spelling mistakes in the text or website name. These are often signs that something sketchy is going on. Remember that phishing and other scams tend to increase around Black Friday and the Christmas holidays. Only visit websites that you trust. Don't assume that your personal or corporate email is immune to scams. Your junk folder may contain emails with dangerous links, and so might your inbox. One of the easiest ways for cybercriminals to access your online accounts is by guessing your password. To protect yourself, it's important to use a strong and unique password for every online account you have.” (The Hacker News).

With Grinch bots, there is a new strategy. Help from a cyber security professional would be most beneficial.

“Cybersecurity firms like Imperva, Human Security, and others protect clients from bad bots through extensive threat monitoring—creating inventories of IPs with bad reputations, for a start—and behavioral analysis.” (Fast Company). “Resist the urge to do what scalpers want (and what eBay and StockX don’t mind) you to do: buy the unattainable toy, gadget, or ticket at their ridiculous markup. Not only does this support the scalpers, but your risk of additional scams—like the theft of personal information and credit card data—increases as you move further from the legitimate retail market.”

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