The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
Data breaches are becoming increasingly common, and their consequences are becoming more severe and widespread. Although no industry is safe from attacks, healthcare is one of the hardest hit. Businesses in this sector are prime targets for cybercriminals because of all the sensitive information they need to keep on hand.
Continue reading How to Implement Effective Data Backup Strategies in Healthcare
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, In a significant cyberattack, hackers have stolen phone records from nearly all of AT&T’s 110 million wireless customers, the company confirmed on Friday. This breach adds to a growing list of cyberattacks targeting businesses and government agencies.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog and the DHS
Ridgewood NJ, during the 2022 holiday season, consumers spent approximately $936.3 billion, an increase of over five percent from the previous year. Online and other non-store shopping increased 9.5 percent, totaling $261.6 billion. On Cyber Monday alone, consumers spent a record $11.3 billion. This year, total sales are expected to moderately increase about three percent given the rising costs of goods and services due to inflation and other factors, and consumers may choose to spread out their holiday shopping over a longer period of time – in 2022, 49 percent of consumers started their holiday shopping before November. While predictions for total sales are debated, one thing is certain – cybercriminals will continue their efforts to target online shoppers and marketplaces for financial gain. As consumers may be increasingly motivated to find deals, specials, and discounts when purchasing gifts this year in particular, it is vital to maintain awareness of the many cyber threats posed by these individuals and groups. Threat actors may target victims through a variety of methods, including compromised or spoofed websites, phishing campaigns, social media ads and messages, or unsecured Wi-Fi networks. Reviewing the common attack vectors detailed in this article, along with tips and best practices, will help to combat the threats posed by cybercriminals this holiday season.
Continue reading Stay Cyber Safe This Holiday ( Thanksgiving , Christmas and New Years ) Season
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Affordable NJ Communities for Homeowners & Renters (ANCHOR) program was developed to offset both the high costs of living and property tax burden, replacing the Homestead Benefit program and expanding the number of eligible taxpayers. Nearly 1.7 million New Jersey citizens applied for the ANCHOR property tax relief program by the February 28 filing deadline. The NJCCIC detected a series of phishing emails attempting to steal New Jersey residents’ ANCHOR program ID and PIN. These emails originated from similar IP addresses and the same subject line “ANCHOR Program Request for ID/PIN,” with some of the messages containing attachments. Further analysis also identified telephone-oriented attack delivery (TOAD) phishing attempts containing similar subject content as well as attempts to redirect payments. Recent open-source reporting indicates that threat actors may have filed fraudulent claims purporting to be NJ taxpayers.
Continue reading Cybercriminals Target ANCHOR Property Tax Relief Fraud
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in attempts to engage in unemployment insurance (UI) fraud. Cybercriminals are using individual’s personally identifiable information (PII) to submit fraudulent unemployment claims. PII and other sensitive information, such as account passwords, are often exposed in data breaches and later published or sold online. Several SMS text scams have also been observed impersonating departments of labor stating that there is an issue with their UI claim and include links, which direct to malicious websites requesting PII that can be subsequently used to file a fraudulent claim. In some cases, cybercriminals simply use information exposed in data breaches to file a claim; however, in other cases, an exposed password may be used to log into a portal account where UI claims can be submitted or verified. Unless multi-factor authentication (MFA) is enabled on the account, cybercriminals can easily gain access to these accounts and, in addition to submitting fraudulent claims, they can modify account information, such as mailing and email addresses, phone numbers, and bank account details. Cybercriminals may also use online bots and scripts to automatically submit claims using compromised PII, which allows them to file fraudulent claims at mass scale. Victims typically only discover that fraudulent UI.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, As cybercriminals continue to find new ways to cash in on increased online traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Securities (“the Bureau”) within the Division of Consumer Affairs took emergency action today to stop an online investment scheme targeting users of the professional networking site LinkedIn. The Bureau urges New Jersey residents to beware of “investment opportunities” being offered on social networking and dating websites.
