Back-to-school cyber dangers

It's back-to-school time, and that means a lot of work.

Whether you're a member of a school administration, a company or an association, back-to-school generally means a return from vacation for many, and the resumption of neglected files as well as new arrivals.

All these reasons benefit cybercriminals.

Being busy, and between you and me, possibly unmotivated by the resumption of professional activity, makes you perfect targets for phishing campaigns by hackers. Lacking vigilance due to your back-to-school workload, it becomes easier to trap you, knowing that one wrong click is all it takes.

A click on the wrong link or a fake document can give a hacker access to your files, contacts and other information that may be sensitive to your organization's business.

With access to your computers, cybercriminals can potentially disrupt or hold your organization's entire business hostage in exchange for ransom.

With access to your contacts, hackers can carry out attacks on your customers or partners using your information (third attack party).

With access to your data, they can probably do all the above and much more (resell or modify data, steal your profile...).

That's why it's important to remain vigilant at all times!

When you receive an e-mail:

1- Check that the subject of the e-mail is not suspicious.

2- Check that the sender's address is the one you know or does not look strange.

3- If the content contains grammatical or spelling errors, this is often a telltale sign of phishing.

4- If the content of the e-mail mentions an urgent action to be carried out or a sum of money to be transferred, be even more wary!

Artificial intelligence is now getting involved, and cybercriminals are using their imagination and stratagems to ensure that their cyberattacks reach a smaller number of people, but in a more targeted way, and therefore with a higher success rate.

For the time being, this is still detectable: a letter that differs from the sender's e-mail address, a wrong telephone number, a URL that doesn't correspond to the page....

The watchword is vigilance this back-to-school season, and at all times for that matter. Keep in mind what you've been told, and if in doubt, check directly with the person or organization contacting you, or notify your IT department.

Happy back-to-school!