Silicon Prairie Cyber Services' Blog

    The bad guys are licking their candy canes in sweet, sweet anticipation.   Anticipation of what?   They can't wait to steal your holiday joy (and cash, passwords, and personal information) through the many online scams, cons, fake websites, phishing emails, and tricks they've prepared just for you. You’ll these scams everywhere this month. Especially in your inbox.   Let’s talk holiday phishing emails.   The holiday phishing email often includes an unbelievable coupon, special shopping offer, or impossible-to-get item. Other lures include bogus gift card offers, giveaways, contests, and too-good-to-be-true deals. The scams will also try to create a sense of "act now" urgency, like putting time limits on the deals. So if you see this email in your inbox this holiday season, beware it's the holiday phish, and it's come for you.   M ake sure you and your friends have grabbed your guide to   safe and secure online holiday shopping.

Have you seen the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and ads that started before Halloween was even over? Businesses want you to spend your money shopping with them. And that means cyber criminals are just a few steps behind and ready to snag your cash instead.   To help you keep your money safe and receive the gifts you want this holiday season, I'm sharing…   5 TIPS TO SPOT A HOLIDAY SCAM   1.  Beware of the gift that was SUPER CRAPPY or NEVER WAS Keep your eyes peeled for the many clickbait ads promoting sought-after products or the impossible-to-score gift. Unfortunately, some of these ads are from fraudsters, posing as merchants who want to steal your passwords or give you the gift of malware. Some merchants will disappear without a trace, while others will send you an inexpensive, ineffective product for the same reason (AKA the crappy gift). Don't be a victim of the gift that never was. Don't click on the link in the email, avoid the online ad clickbait,...

Let’s talk about phishing emails and impersonation. Hackers often use impersonation to get you to open their phishy emails. If the email is from someone you know you’re more likely to open it. For many years, Microsoft was the most impersonated company in phishing emails. It makes sense, I mean, what big business doesn’t use Microsoft? But there’s a new winner, and it’s DHL. In Q4 of 2021, DHL was the most impersonated company in phishing emails, thus dethroning Microsoft? Why the spike? Bad guys follow the money. Q4 means shopping, and with spikes in online shopping again last year, it only made sense that even more cherished Christmas presented would be shipped. How does it work? The attacker used a from name of ‘DHL Customer Support’ The Subject contains ‘DHL Shipment Confirmation…’ It works, because who doesn’t want to know where their package is?! Beware, DHL wasn’t the only shipping server that’s impersonated. FedEx entered the top 10 list as well. How can your cybersecurity awar...

  Hey  Ah, Valentine’s day. The holiday of love is quickly approaching. All this love in the air can only mean one thing, catfishing scams are ramping up. What's catfishing? Fraudsters try to take your money by pretending to be a love interest or playing on your emotions. It normally starts off as a direct message on social media or email, but it even happens on dating websites. A catfish scam can quickly ruin your Valentine’s Day. Not only did you get tricked, emotionally kicked in the gut, you also probably lost a lot of cash. Avoid heartache by watching out for these catfishing red flags: A new social media profile with very few friends They never want to show their face on video or meet in person Super fast expressions of love Sudden Major Expenses - and they ask you to help fund it They were going to finally meet you in person, but now this super horrible thing suddenly happened and they can't. They'll ask you for money to fix their car or pay that doctor's bill! G...

  I Wish you A safe & secure Holiday Season!!! I know you avoided the Grinch by shopping safely and securely online this holiday season by following my tips to avoid charity scams & offers that were too good to be true. These tips aren’t just for the holidays. They’ll keep you safe today and every day. And don’t forgot about checking your email twice for the Phish

Are you an entrepreneur, solopreneur, or a small business owner? Have you ever wanted to get in on some expert cybersecurity training, but never had room for it in your budget? Maybe you'd like to try you hand at one of those phishing email tests. Have you ever wanted to send a phishing email test to your employees' knowledge? You did some research but you found all the tech and expense put it out of your reach as a small business owner? I've been thinking about you, and how to get you the cybersecurity awareness training that you need, and you're why I've created a new service just for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and small businesses. And so a new Online Quiz Event called  Phish or Friend  was born. During Phish or Friend you will... 📝 Test your knowledge 🎣 Practice catching phishing emails in a safe and controlled environment ✔️ See how your phish detection skills up against others 😈 Learn how fraudsters lure you in 👉 Receive a bonus tip sheet to help you spo...

Have you seen the Black Friday and Cyber Monday ads that started Nov 1 st ? The black Friday shopping that started Nov 4 th ? Clearly, businesses want you to spend your money shopping with them. And that means cyber criminals are just a few steps behind, and ready to snag your cash instead. In order to help you keep your money safe and receive the gifts you want this holiday season, I’m sharing… 10 TIPS FOR A SAFE AND SECURE HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON 1.  Turn on MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION Add that extra layer of security to all of your accounts by adding an extra step to your login-procedure. This is a code you enter after you submit your username and password. The code can arrive via an app (such as Google Authenticator), text, or email. It may also called to as dual-factor or two-factor and is abbreviated as MFA or 2FA. Enable it everywhere possible -especially on password keepers, email, and financial accounts. 2.  Avoid FREE WIFI That FREE WiFi you're using might ...

The theme for Week 1 of Cybersecurity Awareness Month is Be Cyber Smart. Being cyber smart means getting familiar with cyber basics. When we are more connected than ever, being “cyber smart” is super important. This year we’ve already seen the number of attacks and breaches skyrocket, including the SolarWinds and Kaseya breaches and high-profile attacks on the Colonial Pipeline and critical infrastructure. What do these recent breaches teach us? Cyberattacks are becoming more evolved and sophisticated with new cybercriminals popping up daily. Luckily, there are several steps that everyone can take to reduce their risk and stay one step ahead of the bad guys. Here’s a few quick tips to get you started. Enable MFA Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds a necessary second check to verify your identity when logging into your account. By requiring multiple methods of authentication, your account is further protected even if the bad guy knows your password. You can use MFA by enteri...

Let’s talk about phishing emails and the techniques used by cyber criminals to get you to click. Today, I’m going to focus on the subject line.   The subject line is super important, and that’s why the bad guys are using it against you. Why is the subject line so important? The subject line is the first and only hint at what the email is about. If you can’t reel ‘em in with the subject line they might never open your email. In fact, the subject line is so important that marketers test different subject lines against each other to see which one will get the most opens.   Cyber criminals try to invoke a sense of urgency and emotions to get you to click. That’s why words like ‘URGENT’ and ‘IMPORTANT’ have appeared in their subject lines for years. But now, there’s a new word in the subject line, and that new word is ‘NEW.’   THE NEW WORD IS NEW.   WHY IS ‘NEW’ SUCH A POWERFUL WORD IN PHISHING EMAILS? Legit emails and alerts contain the word ‘new’ The...

Suddenly summer is over and pumpkin spice everything is out in full force, and that can only mean one thing…   Cybersecurity Awareness Month is coming.   That’s right, October 1 marks the start of Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2021!! Who else is excited?! This year’s theme is Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.  This year’s theme brings four new weekly themes, and provides you with some great opportunities to build relationships in your business.   As you’re churning out lots of awesome content and tips for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, I want to share some tips to keep in mind when your creative juices are flowing.   5 TIPS FOR WRITING CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS INFO Speak the language of business Keep it short and sweet Make your content mobile friendly Avoid technical jargon Don’t get lost in the weeds   Finally, if you need a guest speaker for Cybersecurity Awareness Month or need help planning I still have a few openings availab...

When I say ‘FlyTrap’ what comes to mind? A venus fly trap? ‘The Little Shop of Horrors’? A bug zapper? A strip of sticky tape with a bunch of flies stuck to it? Malware?   I hope you were thinking about malware because there’s some FlyTrap malware taking over Facebook Accounts, and it's been around since March.   How are they doing it? Social Engineering .   The bad guys have placed malicious apps in Google Play and other Android stores to lure you in with offers for free Netflix coupon codes and voting for your favorite soccer player or team. These apps look legit. They are high quality, use great graphics, and are free from grammar and spelling errors.   To get the code or to vote, you have to log in with your Facebook username and password. You are actually using Facebook to login, but unknown to the victim, there is something nefarious going on in the background, and it’s stealing their sensitive info.   WHAT TO DO IF THIS HAS ...

Did you know Bitcoin increased in value by almost 400% between October 2020 and April 2021? Fraudsters follow the money, and with the recent spikes in value and popularity of cryptocurrency it is no surprise that crypto currency email scams are flooding inboxes. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW… WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY? It’s a digital currency, and it doesn’t exist in a physical form. There's no central control – there isn't a central bank of digital currency. Bitcoin was the first. Ransomware tends to demand payment in Bitcoins. TOP 3 CRYPTOCURRENCY SCAMS TO WATCH OUT FOR Emails from businesses and government agencies asking for payment in cryptocurrency A person, website, or social media ad that only accepts payment via cryptocurrency Cryptocurrency investment opportunities TOP 3 TERMS USED IN CRYPTOCURRENCY SCAMS Urgently today Nearest bitcoin machine Day Runs Have you received any cryptocurrency scam emails? What happened? What did you do? Drop a comment below and share your sto...

The evolution of spam has been an interesting one. SPAM has gone from a wartime necessity to Hawaiian delicacy to electronic junk mail. Here's 5 facts about both types of spam. SPAM IN A CAN They invented SPAM in 1937 to use pork shoulder and provide meat with an unlimited shelf life. The name SPAM came from the combination of the words Spice and Ham. Hawaiians consume 7 million pounds of SPAM every year. Richard LeFevre holds the world record for eating SPAM by eating 6 pounds in 12 minutes. Hormel doesn’t use the term spam to describe any emails. Instead, they use the term unwanted emails. SPAM – ELECTRONIC JUNK MAIL The first spam email was sent in 1978 over APARNET. Bill Gates was the most spammed person in the world with over 4 million emails per day. Never unsubscribe from spam. It tells the spammer your email is valid, and you’ll get even more spam. 48% of email sent today is spam. Only 19% of people check their spam folder daily. Do you have an email list? With 48% of today...

Today was an exciting day for me because I had my first guest spot on a radio show. If you're following me on   Facebook  or you live in the Rochester, NY area you might have caught me on 98.9 The Buzz. I have to tell you it was a lot of fun, and I was honored to be brought in to talk about Amazon's new sidewalk project, ransomware, and what the average Jane can do to stay safe. If you missed it, you can watch it now. TOP 3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AMAZON SIDEWALK Your Amazon devices automatically opted in. If you want out, you have to take action. You'll be sending even more data to Amazon if you're part of the Sidewalk. No, your neighbor can't see what’s happening on your network, nor can you see what's on theirs. Do you have any Amazon devices? Are you opting out of the Sidewalk? Drop your comments below. Are you ready to reduce the risk of Ransomware attacks? Let's chat.  Book a complementary discovery session today.

    Have you noticed that in addition to sharing cybersecurity tips I also spend a like of time talking about spam and email?   Are you wondering why a cybersecurity expert is spending so much time talking about emails and spam?   Here's why...   Email offers TWO enormous opportunities. One for cyber criminals to wreak havoc and another for businesses to reach their clients.   You see, there are over 4 billion emails users across the globe, and 95% of them are checking their email EVERY DAY . This makes email a very effective tool to reach people. If you can get your message into the inbox, there is a prime chance that they will see you a...