How to play strong defence against malware attacks during the World Cup

The World Cup is just two weeks away, and like every international event – catastrophe, cause, sport and otherwise – the tournament to crown the greatest soccer (football) team across the globe is bringing out online attackers in droves.

These threats go beyond the usual, low-level racket of selling fake tickets and prizes, playing off of that old-school deceit to launch phishing websites and attacks designed to infect systems with malware programs. Many of these sites are designed to look and feel like legitimate web pages, even using URLs that begin with ‘https’ – the sign that supposedly means a website is secure and trustworthy for sharing personal and financial data. Some have even offered the chance to get free tickets, showing users their personal information including their physical addresses – stolen from other online sites – to appear legitimate. One such site included a supposedly downloadable ticket, which turned out to be a malicious form of the Banker Trojan that steals sensitive data surrounding users’ online banking data.

Kaspersky Lab’s guide to surviving the World Cup of malware.

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Needless to say, emails that offer free tickets or other enticing FIFA-related goods this time of year may be far more harmful than they appear, and Kaspersky Lab recommends the following steps to keeping your system – and your personal data – safe and secure:

1. Read carefully, and make sure the site you are visiting is safe, even if you think it’s a site you’ve visited regularly before – the best phishing sites are incredibly good knockoffs.
2. Be aware that URLs that begin with the ‘https’ may not always be secure – attackers know how to get such listings.
3. Don’t trust emails from unknown senders, and never click through links or download attachments in emails from unknown senders until you can verify the authenticity their origins.
4. Always run a system with a quality, up-to-date anti-malware program.
   One FIFA-related phishing site included a supposedly downloadable ticket, which turned out to be a malicious form of the Banker Trojan.

You have no control over how your side does next month, but whether or not your computer makes it through the World Cup is entirely up to you.