FBI and CISA warn of Thanksgiving cybercriminals, tell IT experts to stay frosty

It’s the greatest time of year, even for criminals.

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What you need to know

It’s that time of year again. Most folks will be gathering around dinner tables with their family and friends, sharing meals and holiday mirth. And cybercriminals will be in their dark, dingy basements of villainy doing what they do best: Causing trouble. That’s why the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have teamed up tojointly warnanyone and everyone who’ll listen to stay vigilant during the holidays.

The tips CISA and the FBI give are straightforward: Have a security team ready to go in the event holiday threat actors strike, remind your organization’s members tonot click sketchy links, and emphasize the importance of strong passwords and multi-factor authentication.

The pair also have guidance on holiday-themed cybercrime techniques to watch out for, which include:

Ransomware is singled out as a threat to be wary of as well. CISA and the FBI aren’t the only groups calling that one out; Sophos recently released a report analyzing the emergingransomware black holeand the danger it poses to everyone who uses the web.

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Robert Carnevale is the News Editor for Windows Central. He’s a big fan of Kinect (it lives on in his heart), Sonic the Hedgehog, and the legendary intersection of those two titans, Sonic Free Riders. He is the author ofCold War 2395. Have a useful tip? Send it to robert.carnevale@futurenet.com.