Episode 1: You (YES, YOU) Are Worth Hacking

Who is Affected:

Everyone who uses any electronic anything

BACKGROUND:

I work in cyber security. Most people like me spend time telling their friends and family how not to fall victim to hackers. And the #1 thing I tend to tell people is to avoid clicking things you don’t know.

Don’t click an attachment in an email, unless you are already expecting it
Don’t click a link in an email or in social media
This could easily expose you to hackers

In fact, I wrote my fifth book, Digital Habits, to help people with these simple tips.

PROBLEM

I have frequently heard people say,

“why do I really need to worry?
“no hacker is going to target me!”
“I’m not a bank!”
“I’m not a government”
“I have no secrets!”
“I HAVE NOTHING TO STEAL!”

Reality: Yes, you have lots of things to steal. Maybe they won’t target you directly, but they will cast a wide net to see if they can snag you and STEAL for SCAM you.

Here are just a few examples:

“Susan” and the Stranded traveler hack – Susan’s email was hacked, so the attacker could send and receive emails under her name. They sent emails saying she was stranded in the Philippines, and to send money FAST! She was not in the Philippines, and the hackers made off with hundreds. Similar attacks steal thousands or tens of thousands by malware scans for keywords in emails looking for people traveling abroad. During the trip, email and beg for money from friends/family feigning an emergency. The hacker does not even need to get access to your email account, but when they do, they delete the email so you don’t see them. Millions of $ have been stolen from people just like you. (SOURCE)
“Jean” in Orlando -Reloadable card hack: With a stolen password, hackers were able to get access to Starbuck online accounts. If you happen to have a credit card on file, the hacker can automatically reload a virtual card, then gift the money to himself, effectively stealing from your credit card. (SOURCE)
DJ – Downloading a whitepaper about Ransomware, got infected with ransomware.: Hacker uses your personal files against you by encrypting them all – all your photos, all your movies, all of your documents, spreadsheets, notes, emails – EVERYTHING. Then they ask for a ransom; usually something like a few hundred dollars. And, people pay it. When they don’t have a backup. This is SO POPULAR with criminals, that ransomware-as-a-service businesses have recently formed to service the high demand of criminals around the world to deploy ransomware. In this case, DJ was OK because he has a backup. (SOURCE)

COMMENT YOUR STORIES

Please, if you have an example of your own – comment to this post and let everyone know! You, yes you, have to be vigilant.