With over two decades of experience in the field of information security, Stephen McDowell is an expert at helping companies and individuals alike recover from information fraud incidents. “This comes down to basic psychological manipulation and exploitation,” said McDowell, “and the con artists and scam artists are constantly retooling and upping their games.” He continued, “It is imperative that you are upping your defenses at the same time. It is, quite literally, an arms race.”
McDowell illustrated the concept of ‘social engineering’ with images of well-known events, like the Trojan Horse that was wheeled into the gate of Troy by the ancient Greeks, and the ubiquitous “Nigerian Prince” scam, as many attendees laughed to themselves and nodded in agreement.
Commonly conducted by email or over the phone, scammers attempt to take advantage of your trust, simple curiosity, or your emotions, specifically your generosity. Targets may get an email or a text message containing a link from a “friend” asking you to check something out, or asking you for help. They tell you “you’ve won” a prize or reward, or you need to “verify” your information with someone you routinely do business with. The stories are often very detailed and emails look legitimate, and that’s precisely how they work.
In conjunction with Webroot Cybersecurity, McDowell also presented some ways to avoid becoming a victim:
To learn more, Mr. McDowell provided the contact information for Webroot, as seen at the end of this summary. A short question-and-answer session followed the presentation; a downloadable Q&A PDF document is also available for review by clicking the link below.
Summary References found here
McDowell illustrated the concept of ‘social engineering’ with images of well-known events, like the Trojan Horse that was wheeled into the gate of Troy by the ancient Greeks, and the ubiquitous “Nigerian Prince” scam, as many attendees laughed to themselves and nodded in agreement.
Commonly conducted by email or over the phone, scammers attempt to take advantage of your trust, simple curiosity, or your emotions, specifically your generosity. Targets may get an email or a text message containing a link from a “friend” asking you to check something out, or asking you for help. They tell you “you’ve won” a prize or reward, or you need to “verify” your information with someone you routinely do business with. The stories are often very detailed and emails look legitimate, and that’s precisely how they work.
In conjunction with Webroot Cybersecurity, McDowell also presented some ways to avoid becoming a victim:
- Slow down. Predators want you to click first and think later. If their email, text message, or phone call conveys a sense of urgency, be skeptical; a legitimate request for your information should never be accompanied by the pressure to do something quickly.
- Research the facts. Be suspicious of any unsolicited messages. If the message looks like it is from a company you do regular business with, find out for sure. A simple Google search to verify phone numbers or a call to the company itself at the number listed on their website can save a lot of headache later on.
- Do not proceed with requests for financial information or passwords. Most legitimate companies make it clear that they will never solicit personal information from you via email – and they mean it.
- Delete requests for help or offers of help. Similarly, legitimate companies will not initiate contacting you asking for your help. If you receive a request from a charitable organization that you aren’t familiar with asking for help, ignore it.
- Never allow a link from an email to control where you land. Stay in control by Googling the website yourself, ensuring you are visiting the website you meant to visit. A good tip: hover your mouse over any links sent via email, revealing the actual URL of where you’ll be visiting. Of course, there are also good fakes out there, but this is an easy first line of defense.
To learn more, Mr. McDowell provided the contact information for Webroot, as seen at the end of this summary. A short question-and-answer session followed the presentation; a downloadable Q&A PDF document is also available for review by clicking the link below.
Summary References found here
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handout.docx |
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mcdowell_qanda_pdf.pdf |