Be careful about Valentine’s Day phishing schemes, experts warn

  • Date: 13-Feb-2021
  • Source: Khaleej Times
  • Sector:Retail
  • Country:UAE
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Be careful about Valentine’s Day phishing schemes, experts warn

With a surge in online orders being predicted for Valentine's Day this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, security experts have warned shoppers to be careful about cybersecurity and phishing schemes when buying products for their loved ones.

“Valentine's Day 2021 might look a little different this year with Covid-19 restrictions likely dampening the mood,” said Carl Wearn, head of Threat Intelligence Risk & Resilience at Mimecast. “And while this may prevent couples from dining out in droves, cyberthreat actors will seize the opportunity to attack unsuspecting lovers.”

He further explained that organisations also have to be more careful about Valentine's Day phishing schemes this year, because more employees are using corporate-owned devices for personal use and the threat of targeted phishing attacks looms large. A recent Mimecast survey found that 87 per cent of respondents in the UAE said that they extensively use company-issued devices for personal matters, while 66 per cent reported an increase in personal usage of company-owned devices this year.

In addition, the results of the survey showed that 50 per cent said that they are not reporting suspect e-mails to their IT or security departments, leaving