COVID-19 – Keeping safe online in this difficult time.
Monday 23rd March 2020
Hello,
During the current emergency we urge that you pay extra care and attention to your cyber security. We ask you to kindly take note of the below information and pass on it to your team.
Many analysts are predicting a general increase in cybercrime activity during the emergency. Unfortunately, there are some people that will look to take advantage of the situation to trick users into dangerous behavior.
One of the most effective ways to prevent users from interacting with phishing and malware/spam campaigns is to invest on their security awareness. Users are as effective a defense layer as any antivirus or 2FA protection. Just as people are encouraged to wash their hands and maintain social distance, using the correct procedure, the same principles can be applied to your information security. We are requesting users to stay vigilant and adhere to the below simple practices.
- Please pay extra attention to any emails that contain in subjects, bodies and attachments words like Covid-19, Corona, Wuhan etc. Most companies will be issuing some formal statements, but it is important to ensure they are delivered from a secure or know email address.
- Pay attention to any “urgent request”, emails that encourage users to act quickly are often used to conceal a fraud attempt.
- Avoid any interaction with email coming from unknown senders.
- Report any suspicious message, either to your line manager, or us directly via call or e-mail. If it looks wrong or too good to be true it probably is.
- Protect credentials (usernames/passwords) and use them only when you are sure about who is requesting them and why. If you suspect your account has been compromised contact us immediately.
- Double-check before starting important financial transactions, one scam we see regularly is a request to change bank details on a known transaction. Remember, any email address, even if it is known to you, may be compromised.
- Always lock your devices when not in use and log out of any sensitive accounts when possible.
- Do not leave passwords written down near your computer even if you think your home environment is safe.
- If you are working on a home, shared, or public computer (highly unrecommended) please be extra vigilant.
Kind regards,
NML Support Team