The newest Star Wars movie due out this week, The Rise of Skywalker, could just as easily be titled The Rise of Hackers, because they’re using the release of the over-hyped movie to target fans with a phishing attack.
As reported in SC Magazine, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is just being released into theaters today but cybercriminals were already assembling fake websites and social media profiles to deliver malware to fans, instead of something useful like the Death Star’s plans.”
Furthermore, “Kaspersky researchers have found 30 fraudulent websites and social media profiles disguised as official movie accounts advertising free copies of the film, but in fact collect credit card data under the pretense of registering for the ability to download or view the movie. So far, 83 users have already been affected by 65 malicious files disguised as copies of the upcoming movie.”
This isn’t the first time that hackers have used the most hyped entertainment event to target victims in a phishing attack. Earlier this year, hackers used the excitement around the Game of Thrones to target fans of the popular TV show. And the tactics used in that attack were eerily similar to the ones targeting Star Wars fans. There they used official-looking websites to try and steal personal information and credit card numbers. Sound familiar?
If there’s a hyped entertainment event, you can be sure that hackers will seize the opportunity to target fans. And it’s up to you to stay safe, despite your excitement. You have a couple of options. You could try to quell your excitement, or you could just protect yourself with super inexpensive email security from Phish Protection.
Phish Protection does two really cool things. First, it scans your email for malicious content BEFORE it reaches your inbox, so you never see most phishing emails. And you can’t fall for a phishing email if it never makes it into your inbox.
The other thing Phish Protection does, for those emails that do make it to your inbox, it scans the website of every link you click on, no matter when you click on it. And if it turns out it’s a fake website, it keeps you from going there. And you can’t fall for a phishing website if you never get there.
Phish Protection is the antidote to over-hyped entertainment events. It sets up in minutes and only costs pennies per user per month. Try it risk free for 30 days. Then you can go crazy over the next over-hyped event.