Countdown to the Olympics: Are You Safe?

With only a few days until the start of the Olympics, the sports craze has reached a fevered pitch—for cybercriminal activity. We have been reporting on the various threats and scams that Olympics fans might encounter online and while the lure might be Olympic-centric, the threats remain the same.

In these Olympic-themed threats, the payload can be information and/or infection. Information is the new currency and cybercriminals want your data. Previous incidents of Olympic-themed spam shows that cybercriminals will use any ruse, such as fake contests or lotteries, just to get your personal information. While some spammed messages limit themselves to requesting recipients to reply with their contact details, other messages go the extra mile and urge recipients to contact and give their personal details to a specific person.

Infection is also a possible result for these Olympic-themed threats. Spam may contain attachments that are actually malware in disguise. To lure users into clicking (and thereby executing) these malicious attachments, cybercriminals use lures such as winning notifications or even supposed official advisories from the Olympics committee.

There are other methods for users to become victims of cybercriminals during this Olympic season. Users in search of Olympic updates or video streams online may end up accidentally visiting malicious or compromised sites which host malware. Olympic fans may also wind up receiving messages that supposedly offer big perks such as free tickets or discounts in exchange for their money.

For complete information on the latest OIympic-themed threats—including quizzes and safety guides, you can visit Race to Security, the Trend Micro security guide to major sporting events such as the Olympics, by clicking the banner below: