Caution over cybersecurity threats in clickbait links during GE14
KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- Regional cybersecurity provider Quann Malaysia, (formerly known as e-Cop Malaysia), is urging Malaysians to prepare for a rise in 'clickbait' phishing links that can be cybersecurity threats during the coming 14th General Elections (GE14).
General Manager Ivan Wen said that while the juicy news was hard to resist, the possibility of losing your critical data, or worse, your money was not worth succumbing to the curiosity conjured by the unbelievable clickbait news or offer titles.
"When the news sounds too good to be true, it is likely fake news.
"However, the masses still fall for these, and this is why clickbait phishing sites or emails with attachments are often sent with sensational titles that bait users into clicking links for 'exclusive' or 'shocking' stories," Wen said in a statement today.
Quann Malaysia said that once a link has been clicked, users would be led to a phishing site that tricks victims into giving their personal data such as email addresses, identity card numbers and even credit card information, leading to critical financial information being compromised.
"These phishing emails can also launch ransomware attacks that encrypt important information on the device. In a worst-case scenario, this can become a national threat.
"Besides that, phishing links can be automatically shared with your contacts once they have access to your device, potentially putting your contacts at risk," Wen said.
According to a report by Dynamic Business Technologies, 48 per cent of IT providers reported that phishing emails were behind ransomware attacks.
Quann also cited two country elections where clickbait links resulted in cybersecurity threats.
"During the 2016 US elections, a phishing campaign by the Russian Intelligence Agency was launched against a US company involved in developing election systems.
"In the UK last year, several members of Parliament were targeted in a phishing campaign and, while a report found that parliamentary sites and addresses were not compromised, personal emails of several individuals were hit with key information leaks," it said.
To prevent malware infection from clickbait links, Wen advised users to take precautions, including keying in the address of a legitimate news site instead of clicking on links received and, before clicking, hover the mouse pointer over a link to view the link address.
He also advised users to only access secure sites that began with ?https? and with a closed-lock icon near the address bar, and regularly monitor their online accounts to ensure they have not been hacked.
"Beware of pop-up windows masquerading as legitimate extensions of a website, as often they are used to target users visiting compromised websites," Wen added.
-- BERNAMA
