November – between Black Friday, Cyber Monday and advances of Christmas gifts – was the month of digital purchases and payments.
How did it go, and what risks did those who shop online exposed themselves to, especially if they bought in the last few weeks?
What and how many have been the cyber offensives? And what scenario can be foreseen, from the point of view of the cyberattack strategy, for 2022?
Check Point Software Technologies told us everything in an online event that took place on Wednesday 1 December. And in which we took part.
Marco Urciuoli, Country Manager, Pierlugi Torriani, Security Engineering Manager and Marco Fanuli, Security Engineer Team Leader Italy attended.
Online Shopping and Risks: November 2021
What, as we have said, can be considered the world month of online shopping has just ended. In November there are not only the well-known Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but also – for example – the Click Frenzy (9 November) in Australia and the Single’s Day (11 November).
And with the boom in online shopping, risks increase, and cyber crime activities increase.
Some data
Check Point Research, the Threat Intelligence division of Check Point Software Technologies (the leading provider of cybersecurity solutions globally) has detected since the beginning of October 2021 the highest amount of dangerous websites related to shopping and sales offers.
In November, on average, more than 5,300 malicious websites were detected per week, with an increase of 178% compared to the average per week observed during the year.
The global impact of these malicious websites has peaked since the beginning of November. One in 38 corporate networks were hit every week, compared to an average of one in 47 in October and one in 352 in early 2021.
The precautions
In addition to having identified an inevitable relationship between the increase in online purchases and the increase in risks, Check Point Software Technologies also provided some advice on how to defend yourself. On how, that is, to shop online safely.
Here they are, in summary:
- Always buy from safe and reliable sources – do not click on promotional links you receive via email or on social media.
- Beware of “lookalike” domains: check the spelling in emails or websites and verify all senders of emails from which you receive promotions.
- Don’t be fooled by impossible offers; a new iPad will never be discounted by 80%, unfortunately.
- Always look for the padlock: making an online transaction from a site that does not have SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption installed is absolutely to be avoided. To find out if the site has SSL, look for the “S” in HTTPS.
- Implement an endpoint and email security solutions – it can make a difference in avoiding a serious security incident.
- Always be wary of password reset emails, especially when online traffic is very high, such as during this time. If you receive an uninvited password reset email, always visit the website directly (do not click on the embedded links) and change your password to something different on that site.
Scenarios for 2022: online shopping and the risks of cyberattacks
What are Check Point Software Technologies’ predictions for possible cyberattacks in 2022?
Here are the areas of action that will most need to be monitored.
- Fake news and disinformation campaigns will continue: throughout 2021, there has been a lot of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination.
- Supply chain cyberattacks will continue to increase – supply chain offensives will become more frequent. And governments will begin to establish regulations to address these attacks and secure networks, as well as work with private sectors and other countries.
- The cyber “cold war” will intensify: improving infrastructure and technological capabilities will allow terrorist groups and political activists to advance their agendas and conduct more sophisticated and widespread attacks.
- Data breaches will occur more frequently on a larger scale. And they will cost more to both organizations and governments who want to pay the ransom.
- Cryptocurrencies will become increasingly popular with hackers.
- Hackers will increasingly target wallets and mobile payment platforms.
- Cybercriminals will leverage the “microservices” vulnerabilities adopted by Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) to launch large-scale attacks.
- Deepfake technology will be a weapon for hackers: techniques for faking video or audio are now advanced enough to be used to create targeted content and to manipulate opinion, stock market shares or worse.
- In general, network penetration tools continue to grow: globally, in 2021, one in 61 organizations was affected by ransomware every week.
Who is Check Point Software Technologies
Check Point Software Technologies is the world’s largest specialist cybersecurity provider for governments and businesses.
Its market-leading solutions, featuring the highest detection rates for malware, ransomware and other types of cyberattacks, protect customers from fifth generation attacks. Check Point defends more than 100,000 organizations of all sizes.