With Christmas edging ever closer, November brings the season of bargains, as Black Friday and Cyber Monday offer the chance to snap up a great deal.
However the explosion in popularity for this shopping extravaganza has made it a popular target for hackers, scammers and cybercriminals looking to trick shoppers out of their hard-earned cash.
Never fear though, as we've got some great tips to make sure you stay safe this Black Friday.
Beware the phishing threat
One of the most popular ways that scammers will look to target victims around events such as Black Friday is through the use of phishing emails.
Although they have been around for some time, phishing emails still prove effective, especially if you're searching for a deal that seems too good to be true.
The scams target victims using legitimate-looking emails sporting realistic assets such as similar branding and corporate images to spoof a real company to fool users into clicking onto malicious links.
Fortunately, Bitdefender Total Security (opens in new tab) comes with a range of tools to keep you protected from such scams, including advanced anti-phishing protection that helps sniff out and block any malicious websites that try to steal your financial data, passwords or credit card numbers, as well as an advanced filtering system warning if you visit websites that may try to scam you, hopefully helping to keep you safe.
Keep all your devices secure
We’re all aware of the need to keep our computing devices protected from the latest cybersecurity threats, but really you should be making sure that all your smart products are kept safe at such a potentially risky time.
With breaking deals alerts often sent via email or pop-up notification, many of us will be using a smartphone or mobile device this Black Friday, so making sure these items stay safe too is vital.
All it takes is for one device to fall victim to a scam or virus for your entire network to be compromised, but Bitdefender Total Security (opens in new tab)y is able to secure all your devices, working across multiple versions of top software including Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.
It also offers up to 15 devices covered per subscription household, so you can make sure all your most important devices stay protected.
Fire up your VPN for something different
Most of us will now be familiar with using some kind of VPN service, with remote working needing such tools in order to access company systems, data or documents.
But if you're hunting for great deals this Black Friday, a VPN could not only keep you safe, but also help save you money.
A VPN disguises your IP address and connection to make your location appear to be somewhere else. This means no-one is able to track your internet activity or find out where you are, but also that you can check out if prices are lower on a foreign version of a retailer's website. Doing some comparisons could save you some serious money, and Bitdefender Total Security (opens in new tab) comes with its own Secure VPN service that offers complete online privacy alongside a 200MB/day per device allowance, allowing you to do some savvy shopping.
Stay smart
Finally, our most vital piece of advice could simply be to stay on your guard this Black Friday.
You may think that you aren't an attractive target for hackers or scammers, but criminals will always be keen to steal the data you work with.
Always ensure the emails or websites you click on are legitimate, especially if they start asking for personal or business data, so that you aren’t giving away valuable data without knowing it.
Bitdefender Total Security comes with a range of tools to make sure you don’t fall victim to ID theft, ranging from specialised social network protection to a strong privacy firewall. The platform also offers an improved vulnerability assessment which will scan for possible security flaws such as missing Windows security patches and potentially unsafe system settings, before suggesting the best fix to keep you safe.
For news on all the latest threats, you can also get real-time updates about malware outbreaks and scams on the Bitdefender Blog (opens in new tab).
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