Tag: safe cloud backup

Stay Safe, Avoid Scams – Black Friday

Black Friday 2024 – How to Avoid Scams & Stay Safe online

The end of November has become synonymous with Black Friday, the day when Christmas comes early, and consumers can look forward to huge savings on their favourite products.

Unfortunately, the last Friday of the month is also a day when cybercriminals like to celebrate the takings from their latest financial scams. Against the backdrop of increasing fraud cases across the country, this Black Friday is a day not only to enjoy some serious savings but also to take online safety seriously.

Here are some of the common scams that cybercriminals may try to execute on the day and the weeks leading up to it, and how you can avoid them.

If it’s too cheap to be true, it probably is

Black Friday is all about saving money, and the psychology of getting a good deal is so appealing to many consumers that cybercriminals are able to exploit it to make their scams believable.

Usually, receiving an email or social media message about a product that’s 50% or more off its normal price would raise some eyebrows. But with the generous discounts offered around Black Friday, consumers often let their guard down and fall for non-delivery scams on items that are so cheap, it’s almost unbelievable.

  • This type of scam generally works by offering the customer an expensive product at 20% to 30% of its price.
  • Following payment, the seller will typically disappear and never make delivery. Alternatively, they may deliver inferior or fake goods, an empty box, or some other type of fraudulent package.

It’s easy to avoid this scam by only dealing with reputable retailers, but even this is becoming more challenging in a time when fake websites are proliferating.

Double-check retail websites to avoid losing money

Impersonation scams have reached a whole new level with entire brands and websites being duplicated by cybercriminals.

In our article on domain name scams, we touched on the importance of verifying that the website you’re dealing with is the real deal. This is especially important for customers dealing with retailers in the weeks leading up to Black Friday.

  1. Before you place an online order, it’s essential to ensure that the website you’re dealing with is genuine.
  2. Googling the site and comparing the URL that comes up first in the search results with the one you’re currently browsing is one way of doing this.
  3. If your favourite retailer offers a shopping app, it’s always safer to transact using that, rather than risk visiting a fake URL.

Beware of fake vouchers and discount codes

Another tactic cybercriminals are employing to fool unsuspecting consumers is offering Black Friday vouchers for sale which turn out to be fraudulent and unusable.

  • Generally speaking, retailers will never offer to sell you vouchers other than official retail gift cards.
  • The moment you receive an offer to pay R100 for R200 off, or a similar deal, your suspicions should be heightened.

When in doubt, the best rule of thumb is to purchase directly from your favourite retailer’s website, use the app, or even do it the old-fashioned way by going there in person on the day.

Keep your personal data safe with us on Black Friday and beyond

With fraud cases rising by 45% in South Africa, 2024 is the year to prioritise online safety.

Our comprehensive range of secure cloud storage solutions for businesses and households will help ensure that your data is kept securely in the cloud in encrypted form.

Best Cloud Practices – Cloud Backup Implementation

Maximising Efficiency: IT Tips for Cloud Backup Implementation

Cybercriminals continue to attack SA businesses relentlessly, and one of the best safety measures you can take against the current wave of ransomware attacks is a regular secure backup.

A backup is something that should happen automatically, and maybe for that reason we tend to forget how important they are. That is, until something goes wrong and essential files are lost or a working copy can’t be secured in the wake of a cyberattack.

Fortunately, secure cloud storage works seamlessly with backup best practices to keep your data safe and encrypted.

Here are some ways you can integrate your cloud storage with your backup planning for maximum efficiency and peace of mind.

Analysing backup reports to fill gaps with cloud storage

Whenever you receive a backup report, it’s not enough to simply glance over it and ensure that nothing is highlighted in red.

Taking a careful look at your total file population and the frequency of your backups will help you identify gaps in your security that secure cloud storage can easily fill.

Frequency of backups

If your business processes a small amount of data, a weekly backup may be sufficient to secure a copy of your most recent files.

On the other hand, a data intensive business will need to schedule daily or even more frequent backups so that crucial information is not lost in the event of a hardware failure or cyberattack.

Maximising backups while minimising storage space

Regularly compressing  backup files along with eliminating unneeded duplicate copies will help you to ensure that your files are secure in the cloud without using up your data storage package sooner than necessary.

It’s important to audit your backups in the cloud on a regular basis and ensure that duplicates are eliminated to free up space.

You’ll also want to compress duplicate copies of your backup files that are still needed. This could cut your backup cloud storage requirements by 20% or more.

Automate your backups and enjoy peace of mind

Automatic backups are a recipe for stress-free data management. As your files are saved automatically to the cloud, you and your IT team can focus on more important things as you target ambitious goals.

Soteria’s range of secure cloud storage solutions are ideal for keeping your backups safe and encrypted. Find the package that suits your business today and rest easy knowing that your data is protected against any eventuality.