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IT security continues to be one of the biggest threats to individuals and businesses and criminal hackers are always looking for new scams that will lure unsuspecting email users into opening attachments or clicking embedded links from fake email addresses that are masked to look like they’re coming from trusted sources. The most recent iteration of this cyber scam is one involving a dangerous email spam message pretending to come from encrypted communication service, WhatsApp. The subject line of this message says “Missed Voicemail” and the content of the message just says “New Voicemessage” alongside a link that says “Play.”
According to CyberHeist News, “clicking on the link will begin the download of a trojan that ESET detects as ‘JS/Kryptik.BBC’, a variant of malware first detected in August 2016. JS/Kryptik is a generic detection of malicious obfuscated JavaScript code embedded in HTML pages that usually redirects the browser to a malicious URL or implements a specific exploit and can cause ransomware and other malware infections.” In other words, if you click on the embedded link, malware will be installed on your computer which gives cyber criminals access to personally identifying information and/or your electronic files.
If you want to avoid being victim of identity theft and want to protect your personal and business files from being held ransom, we want to remind you to NEVER click on these sorts of links. We have a couple suggestions to help you and your employees avoid becoming victim of these hackers’ next scam
- Don’t trust email masks. Those are the names that show when an email comes through. Instead, always look at the actual email address to determine if the email in question is coming from a safe source. Pay especially close attention to the extension at the end of the email, and if you’re unsure, don’t open it.
- If the email is supposedly coming from a familiar program or application such as WhatsApp or Facebook, delete the email and securely login to the service that supposedly sent you the message. If it’s legitimate, you’ll easily be able to listen to the voicemail or view the new message from within their platform. If it’s not there, you can be sure the email was malicious, and you’ll be glad you deleted it.
As always ATB is here to help you keep your personal and business computers safe. We offer everything from help desk support and virus protection to remote cloud backup and disaster recovery services. Contact us today to learn more![/x_text][x_prompt type=”left” title=”Call Us Today” message=”Give us a call: 314-878-4166″ button_text=”Contact Us Online” button_icon=”comment” circle=”false” href=”/contact/” href_title=”” target=””][/x_column][/x_row][/x_section]