September 26, 2024 at 01:37PM
Hurricane Helene approaches Florida coastline as a Category 3 storm with a life-threatening 20-foot surge. Cybercriminals are anticipated to exploit public interest and anxiety by launching fraud and phishing schemes related to the hurricane. The US National Hurricane Center and Cybersecurity agencies advise people to be cautious of charitable solicitations, email scams, and unsolicited offers during this time.
Key takeaways from the meeting notes:
– Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane tonight with a potentially life-threatening 20-foot storm surge.
– Cybercriminals are likely to take advantage of the interest and anxiety surrounding the hurricane to perpetrate fraud and phishing attempts, such as fake charity appeals for donations, notices from energy or phone providers about outages, unsolicited offers of help from “contractors”, and business email compromise (BEC)-enabled attacks.
– The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warns individuals and corporate users to remain vigilant when handling hurricane-related emails, attachments, hyperlinks, social media pleas, texts, or door-to-door solicitations, as these may be fraudulent.