…..Urges Consumer to Install updated software
The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) on Tuesday, advised users to install an anti-virus software.
According to the NCC-CSIRT, the software, is trusted, and up-to-date with an Internet security component.
Users were also asked to customize News Feed in Microsoft Edge Browser, which is part of the countermeasures to lessen the chances of falling for a malicious attack that has been discovered in the browser.
The Commission Security Team, added that in other for users to practice safe internet browsing habit, they are to refrain from clicking on link they are unsure of, to avoid facing malicious attack that will be a potential damage to systems.
The advisory said “the malicious advertising campaign, unearthed on the Microsoft Edge Browser News Feed, redirects victims to fraudulent tech support websites and that cybercriminals have resorted to posting bizarre, attention-grabbing stories or advertisements on the Edge news feed to entice users to click on them. The malicious advertisements appear legitimate but contain malware and/or other threats.
“The Microsoft Edge News Feed is the default page that appears when a new tab is opened, and it displays information such as news, advertisements, weather, and traffic updates. Also, the following are the steps that result in being redirected to a bogus tech support page: The user clicks on a story or advertisement, the Edge browser setting is analysed for various metrics.”
The advisory stressed that “if the user is adjudged to be a bot or in a location that is not of interest, the user is redirected to a harmless dummy page that is relevant to the story or advertisement initially clicked on; However, if the user is adjudged a potential victim, then the user is redirected to a tech support scam website for further exploitation.
“Victims of the tech support website scam could have their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and other data harvested or they could be with malware.”
Furthermore, the NCC, urges telecom consumers and other stakeholders in the ecosystem to install up-to-date AntiVirus software and be alert to the wiles of cyber criminals in order not to fall victim to cyber scams.
