Watch Out for These Summertime Malware Concerns

What summer plans have you and your employees made? If you’re looking forward to some rest and relaxation, make sure your IT system’s vulnerabilities don’t disrupt those dreams and turn your idyllic summer vacation into a stressful nightmare season. Take a look at some lurking dangers that you want to protect your business against this summer.

The hotel Trojan scam - A hot current scam involves spam emails claiming that a failed transaction between your bank and your vacation hotel requires your attention – and, of course, your information, which you’re expected to fill out on a downloaded form. Unfortunately, the form itself is actually a downloader called Trojan.Generic.KD301243. This Trojan can then steal login data from your web browsers, instant message apps, and FTP accounts, making you a target for future malware attacks.

LockBit 2.0 - Ransomware paralyzes entire networks by making data inaccessible to users, essentially holding that data for ransom. Some ransomware groups even threaten to make the data public if the victims don’t pay the requested fee to unlock it. Going into summer of 2022, Lockbit 2.0 has taken a commanding lead among the ransomware heavy hitters. It belongs to the category of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), offering its malicious services to any organization that wants to perpetrate a ransomware attack.

Home and public security holes - Many workers take working summer vacations, continuing to do business from their laptops or smartphones while lounging on the beach, relaxing in hotels, or frequenting coffee houses. If your employees do the same, make sure they understand the need to use VPN programs, strong passwords, and secure websites, and that they know how to recognize and avoid phishing attempts.

Malware doesn’t take the summer off, but neither does your Austin IT tech support team at Gravity Systems. Contact us for assistance with your business’s IT security.