Even though the 2020 Back to School\nseason may look very different from those in years past, there are a few things\nthat will remain the same. First, since Back to School is often when parents\nand caregivers stock up on new clothes, tech, and school supplies for students,\nit\u2019s also when lots of stores (especially online retailers) run huge sales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second, there will be the customary\nspike in cyberattacks. In fact, the attacks on the Education sector are already\nup. The latest\ndata from Microsoft<\/a> shows that the Education sector has recently suffered\nmore encounters with malware (over 5,000,000 in the last 30 days) than any\nother industry! According to Tyler Moffitt, security\nanalyst at Webroot, \u201cphishing isn\u2019t going to go away any time soon. As tactics\ngo, it\u2019s an oldie, but goodie. Times of year when people do more shopping, like\nBack to School or Christmas, are a big draw for cybercriminals. We always see a\nspike in phishing during those times. And with more people shopping and\nstreaming online during COVID-19, I\u2019m betting we\u2019ll see even more activity this\nyear than we would normally expect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To underscore Tyler\u2019s point, the latest intelligence from the Webroot BrightCloud\u00ae Real-Time Anti-Phishing service shows that phishing URLs targeting global streaming services have increased significantly. In March 2020 alone, we saw the following increases in phishing URLs, broken out by service:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only should you and your young learner keep an eye out for email scams, but also bear in mind that phishing can happen through a variety of channels<\/a>. Because many students will end up communicating mostly via online chat, text message (SMS), or social media, it\u2019s important for us all to be extra vigilant about what we click, what we download, and what information we transmit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rise in the use of Zoom and other videoconferencing platforms has also paved the way for malicious actors to cause trouble<\/a>. While it\u2019s named after Zoom, zoom-bombing as a term refers to the act of intruding on a video conference on any platform and creating a disruption, such as spreading hate speech, displaying pornography, and more. Webroot researchers have seen huge jumps<\/a> in the number of fake websites out there, particularly those with \u201cCOVID\u201d and related terms in their domain names. Tyler also warns us to be on our guard for website spoofing, which is when malicious actors create a fake version of a website that looks like the real thing. Here are Tyler\u2019s top tips for\nstaying safe online through Back to School and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This Back to School season, it\u2019s especially\nvital that we all do what we can to ensure children and teens have the skills,\nawareness, and security protocols to stay safe. By following these tips, you\ncan help make sure they stay safe today, tomorrow, and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Even though the 2020 Back to School season may look very different from those in years past, there are a few things that will remain the same. First, since Back to School is often when parents and caregivers stock up on new clothes, tech, and school supplies for students, it\u2019s also when lots of stores […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":30359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2985],"tags":[21942],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30361,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30357\/revisions\/30361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30357"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=30357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nSince a lot of children and teens will be attending school\nvirtually, either part-time or full-time, they\u2019ll be spending even more time on\nthe internet than they currently do. The more time they spend online, the\nhigher the risk they face.
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\nHere are the top threats to watch out for, as well as tips for how to help keep\nyoung learners safe during Back to (Virtual) School.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPhishing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Zoom-bombing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, Webroot threat researchers have seen videoconference executable files (i.e. the file you run to launch the program) either faked or manipulated so that unwitting victims end up downloading malware.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFake Websites and Spoofing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of people will have to access specific websites and online systems for school and related activities,\u201d he says. \u201cCriminals will effectively set traps, so that a mistyped URL or a fake search result could land you on a fake page that looks completely real, only to steal your info or install malware on your system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Keep Yourself and Your Family Safe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nIf you haven\u2019t already, install internet security with antivirus<\/a> on all your devices, especially\nthose that will be used for schoolwork. Don\u2019t forget about using a VPN<\/a> to protect kids\u2019 internet activity from prying eyes.<\/li>
\nMake sure children and teens are always using the most up-to-date versions of\nZoom (or any other videoconferencing software) to ensure they have the latest\npatches to prevent malware distribution and disruptions.<\/li>
\nTalk to kids about phishing. Make sure you all know to look before you click.\nAnd remember, phishing scams can look just like a text message from a best\nfriend, classmate, or teacher, so always be wary of messages that ask you to\nclick a link or download a file. Use a secondary means of communication, like a\nphone call, to verify that these are legitimate.<\/li>
\n<\/strong>Bookmark all required\ndistance learning pages. Criminals may try to spoof these for phishing,\nespecially if there is a popular portal that many schools use. Using a\nbookmark, instead of Googling and clicking a search result, will help ensure\nthat your kids are on the right page.<\/li>
\nIf you or your kids download a document and it asks you\nto enable macros or enable content, DO NOT DO IT. This is very likely to be a\nmalicious file that will infect your computer.<\/li>
\n<\/strong>When we\u2019re all so reliant\non our computers and other internet-connected devices to work and study, it\u2019s\nextra important to make sure they\u2019re backed up. Nobody wants to lose a term\npaper or other important documents to a malware infection, hardware failure,\ndamage, loss, or theft. Save yourself the hassle and heartache by investing in backup software<\/a>. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n