Valentine’s Day is the day of couples, red roses, hearts and… viruses. Cyber-criminals take advantage of this important date to carry out massive attacks using attached files or malicious links.
Romantic videos, links to stores where you can get the perfect gift, pictures… are just some of the excuses used by hackers to infect as many devices as possible through social engineering.
10 Tips for avoiding viruses on Valentine’s Day
- Do not open emails or messages received on social networks from unknown senders.
- Do not click a link received by email. It is better to type the URL directly in the browser bar. This rule applies to messages received through any mail client and through Facebook, Twitter or any other social network, instant messaging programs, etc.
- If you click on one of these links, check the landing page. If you don’t recognize it, close your browser.
- Do not run attachments from unknown senders. At this time of year, you have to be very careful with files with subjects or names related to Saint Valentine, romantic pictures, etc.
- If you don’t notice anything strange about the landing page but are prompted to download a file, be wary and do not accept.
- If you do download and install any type of executable file and the computer starts launching strange messages, it is probably malware.
- When shopping online it is recommended to do so from the original store, not from links you have received. Do not buy from online stores unless they have a solid reputation and never from websites on which transactions are not secure. In order to check if a page is secure, look for the security certificate, which is represented by a yellow padlock symbol next to the browser bar or in the bottom right corner.
- Do not use shared computers to carry out transactions that require passwords or personal data.
- Make sure you have the best antivirus for your needs installed and updated.
- Keep up-to-date with the latest security news.
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