Beware! Weddings are a new playground for cyber criminals

The bride walked down the aisle decorated with her favorite orchids that she saw online, while her favorite romantic sound tracks played in the background. The wedding planner had meticulously planned each and every minute of the wedding with the help of internet. Indeed, the big fat Indian wedding has come a long way in times of modern connected relationships. Planning a wedding in the digital era has reached a new level with the right mix of technology and apps available at our finger tips. From creating exclusive hashtags, personalized websites, e-invites to managing the wedding, the web now offers various services to make the wedding an experience of a lifetime!

Amidst all the online wedding preparations, it’s critical to be well-informed and well-protected, so you know how to keep your identity, your money, and your guests safe from cybercrime as your big day approaches. Now, your obvious query could be, how can your wedding attract cybercrime? Cybercrime has established itself as a very lucrative industry and tech savvy criminals are constantly exploring avenues to latch on to new consumer interests to exploit unsuspecting bystanders. These consumer interests could vary from that juicy fake news website offering the latest gossip on celebrities, to a throwaway holiday package at a resort for your destination wedding or your honeymoon.

From never-ending to-do lists to managing the arrival of relatives and friends, the last thing you need to worry about is being hacked! Here are few tips that can ensure that you have a safe online experience while you enjoy your wedding.

Say no to public Wi-Fi: Destination weddings means a lot more reliance on public Wi-Fi, be it for bookings, sight-seeing or making payments. Refrain from using public Wi-Fi for anything that requires you to share sensitive data like passwords, credit card number, bank account details or personal information. It is good to invest in a personal hotspot, or use a virtual private network (VPN) during the wedding time.

Beware of the fakes: Fake wedding websites and fake apps are increasingly becoming a popular scam online. Wedding websites and apps are the most convenient way to look for all the important details of a wedding celebration – especially for destination weddings or those that include multiple events. It can act as a hub for scammers to set up fake businesses to lure browsers and steal their money and data. 

Love your password: With every aspect of planning the big day gone digital and easier, there also lies numerous risk associated with putting a lot of personal data online. The array of websites also mean creating and managing lots of new usernames and passwords. Instead of trying to remember everything, or using the same credentials for multiple accounts, one can use a password manager like TrueKey which will give you the confidence that your wedding-related accounts are safe and secure from any potential threats.

Connected Gifts: Smart TVs, Connected refrigerators, are becoming the norm as wedding gifts these days given our lifestyle shift towards connected lives. While these smart devices make the home smart, they also come with vulnerabilities that make them prone to being hacked easily. Therefore, it is important to secure them by changing the passwords periodically. 

Share your moments, but not your personal data: Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat are just some mediums where we love to tell stories of our big day. With guests frequently sharing photos and posts on social media, it provides cybercriminals with the details they need for launching an attack or a phishing website. While family and friends can be all excited about the big day, we need to remember, that what we save and share online has the potential to be used maliciously. Therefore, when you are planning the big day, ensure that the memories and information is kept private, posts are locked down so that the wedding can be celebrated in the most unique way!

Make your big day a dream-come-true moment, create life-long memories and keep them secure. Be sure to follow these tips, and have a happy and safe wedding experience.

—Contributory article by Rupa Roy, Head of Marketing, INDIA & SAARC & Head of Global Marketing Services at McAfee