All You Need to Know About Securing Private Events
by Camila Rufini, 02 December 2022Updated 03 September 2024Public events are a great way for bad actors to commit fraud.
Malware, data breaches, phishing attacks, and multiple other scams exceed when events begin. When such big events start, imposters take full advantage of the situation. Social engineering attacks, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, email scams, and identity theft were the most prevalent types of fraud reported in the big events.
According to research by Digital Shadows, they have identified 174 malicious domains impersonating official web pages in events such as FIFA world cup Qatar 2022. Attackers used different levels of sophistication ranging from low-quality, definite phishing pages to refined efforts counterfeiting logos and animations.
Corporate Events and Fraud – A Brief Overview
Corporate events are a great way to foster a feeling of cohesiveness. They provide a chance to meet people from the industry and grow business. In fact, corporate events are the best place to collaborate with peer companies toward something big. However, it also provides an opportunity for imposters to cause an increase in cyber attacks.
For example, a few cyberattacks against the World Cup are already underway, according to the Sports Information Sharing and Analysis Organisation (Sports-ISAO), which promotes security for teams, athletes, leagues, and supporters. Cybersecurity 101 emphasizes the importance of protecting sensitive information and networks from malicious actors.
Additionally, cyber security attorneys projected that both fans and corporations worldwide have a significant likelihood of experiencing a cyber breach. To avoid these types of circumstances, we need a solution like KYC Verification or a cybersecurity platform that can help to avoid this kind of breach. Emerging threats such as bring your own vulnerable driver (BYOVD) attacks further complicate the cybersecurity landscape for large events, potentially allowing attackers to bypass traditional security measures.
Impersonating Domains
Bad actors frequently use impersonate domains in the first stages of their illicit operations, making them a popular choice. They frequently use spoof websites to imitate reputable, trustworthy companies and carry out malicious actions. This may involve stealing personally identifiable information (PII), login passwords, financial information, and malware payloads being dropped on the computers of victims. Using a scam website checker can help identify and avoid such malicious sites, thereby protecting your sensitive data and your device.
Imposters typically pick domain names that resemble those of trustworthy websites when creating these malicious web pages in an effort to deceive visitors into clicking on them.
To twist the original domain, the attackers may substitute alphanumeric characters, misuse a top-level domain (google [.] info instead of google [.] com), or include a related word (google-info [.] com).
After registering a domain, fraudsters frequently register with a reputable bulletproof hosting company in order to escape detection and takedowns. This usually shields them from law enforcement activities as well.
To identify a real site, a user should check a few details like HTTPS, and the secured padlock that is generally seen before the domain name. Moreover, a user can click on a padlock to check SSL certificate details, which ensures that the site is verified by the certificate authority and is secured.
It is recommended for every business owner to buy SSL certificate and install it on the website to distinguish the real and secure site those who own an eCommerce store can choose eCommerce hosting that comes with SSL certificates and other security features. and implement SSL monitoring to check its validity. Additionally, using the best private browser adds an extra layer of protection, ensuring that sensitive information remains confidential while browsing the web.
Red Flags in Booking Event Venues
A great venue can either make or break your event. For instance, some venues work better for a particular event but don’t do that great for others. Henceforth, event planners need to be very specific while choosing a venue for their corporate event. Right venues help the host to organize the event with minimal stress and have fun in the process.
When looking for a venue, it is best to make a list of the positives and negatives of each space and try not to ignore the problems that could adversely impact your event.
A clear positive, for example, would be to choose a venue with a robust alarm system or surveillance cameras to create a secure environment and manage access to your event. For a touch of elegance, some venues even incorporate Swarovski elements in their décor, adding a layer of sophistication and luxury to your corporate event. Finding the right venue can take time, but as it is said, “good things take time,” so do not hurry while deciding on a place for your corporate event. Here are 2 red flags that you should consider before selecting your next corporate event venue:
1. Negative Reviews
It is the age of the Internet. The easily accessible internet has made it easier to show how you feel about a particular service or product through social media posts and online reviews. Not everything you find on the internet is true, but neither is a troll on it, either.
Do your research and see the things people are giving negative and positive reviews about, then make a decision as a thing important for someone else would be something you can neglect and vice versa.
2. Shell Companies Using Deception Techniques
Mentioning one red flag about the real organisations that you should consider before booking the venue for your next corporate event, now let’s just discuss the other one that is more serious and can be executed by shell companies.
Fraudsters use deception techniques to present themselves as genuine booking firms and end up tricking businesses into giving them their personal information. Using sophisticated techniques and technology, anyone and anything can be manipulated.
Companies that do not do enough research end up being the targets of imposters’ criminal activities. However, as all the fingers are not the same, all the event booking platforms are not fake. Businesses must prioritize the need to manage and secure sensitive data, implementing robust cybersecurity measures along with AI insurance to safeguard against the ever-evolving tactics employed by fraudsters. Additionally, buying residential proxies can further enhance your cybersecurity measures. These proxies can conceal personal IP addresses, providing an extra layer of anonymity and preventing unauthorised users from accessing sensitive business information during event planning or while managing the digital aspects of an event.
After doing thorough research, firms can find real event management companies like Eventflare which is a fully integrated 360° online platform to book and manage unique work, play, and stay spaces for international business events.
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It's Time to Update the Identity Verification Model
After reading about some of the major dangers to corporate events, organizations now must be thinking, “Should we be worried about this?” The answer to that question is very simple, businesses need to incorporate effective identity verification protocols to counter these scams. Additionally, a robust identity and access management (IAM) solution can significantly enhance security by ensuring that only authorised individuals have access to sensitive information.
By taking into account the possible impact of certain phenomena and their likelihood, a risk-based approach enables organizations to design their cybersecurity measures considering particular needs and vulnerabilities. As a result, it is crucial to examine the objectives and skills of the bad actors who may potentially carry out malicious activities to demolish corporate events.
Security measures can go a long way in protecting events from cyber dangers. Following are some of the most practiced internet safety rules that event planners can take to improve their security protocols:
- People need to be cautious while sharing information on social media or online. By giving information like your birthdate (which you might also enter into an age calculator), pet names, schools you’ve attended, family members’ names, and other details, people make it easy for fraudsters to figure out their password or the answers to their security questions. So it's important to use a strong password generator to create complex and unique passwords that are more difficult to guess or crack.
- A spam email or text message asking customers to update or confirm account information does not contain any links. To avoid spamming, you need to improve email deliverability and protect your domain. Therefore, prior to giving information, consumers must contact on their own and give the relevant business a call to confirm the request’s validity.
- Businesses need to enable two-factor (or multi-factor) authentication on each account and keep it active at all times. Although MFA is not a foolproof defense against bad actors, it can be a very effective security measure against opportunistic cybercriminals.
Face Recognition technology is another authentication measure that has gained popularity over the past few years. A biometric authentication measure assists various sectors across the globe in different ways. Some sectors use it as an attendance marking system, whereas some countries use it for making digital banking convenient. Similarly, corporate events use facial verification systems to identify people and make sure no fraudster becomes successful in committing any type of fraud.
Conclusion
Corporate events are extremely important as they are organized and sponsored by the company for its clients, business partners, and employees. Such events have a purpose, big or small, or even intimate, depending on the aim and the number of attendees.
Corporate events boost the firm’s culture, which is why they need to be well-planned, and the event planners should ensure they are incorporating identity verification measures so that no fraudster can execute their illicit activities and harm the corporate event.
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