Police provide tips to stay safe from scams like the summit sabotage earlier this year

Earlier this year, an established cybercriminal group targeted the Women Political Leaders (WPL) Summit held in Belgium. Summits and conferences provide a unique opportunity for cybercriminals and scammers to target people of power or those who are experts in their field. Whether you’re a speaker or an attendee, this attack is a great learning opportunity.

In this scam, the cybercriminals created a malicious website that looked like the official WPL Summit website. Then, they invited attendees of the WPL Summit to download photographs from the event. If downloaded, you would receive a ZIP file that contained legitimate photographs. Unfortunately, the file also contained a downloader for a popular piece of backdoor malware. Once installed, the cybercriminal group could monitor your device and steal sensitive information.

Follow the tips below to stay safe from scams like this:

• Stop and think before downloading anything from the internet. This type of cyberattack relies on impulsive downloads.
• Always hover your mouse over a link to make sure that it leads to a legitimate and relevant website. Cybercriminals can easily make a website look official with logos and copied designs.
• Keep your devices up to date. Software updates often include security patches to protect you against known vulnerabilities.

Stop, look, and think. Don’t be fooled by the scammers.