Simply Cyber Newsletter #161 🎄

Start your work week off at full speed with expert analysis and actionable intel from top cybersecurity news stories. Share with your End Users, Peers, and Executives to support weekly security awareness with the Simply Cyber Newsletter!

FOR END USERS

Beware of 'gift card draining' and two other top holiday scams, US Treasury warns. Holiday scams are surging as criminals exploit shopping, donations, and gift cards. The U.S. Treasury warns scammers now use AI, voice cloning, and cryptocurrency to steal money. Gift card draining is especially common. Verify requests, inspect cards carefully, and pause before acting on urgent messages.

What you need to know: Share this with your end users as a short holiday reminder about gift card scams and what to watch for this week.

The U.S. Treasury is warning consumers about a rise in holiday scams that take advantage of everyday seasonal activities like online shopping, charitable giving, and buying gift cards. One of the most common is gift card draining, where scammers steal card numbers from store racks and drain the balance as soon as the card is activated, often before the recipient ever uses it.

Scammers are getting better at making these scams look real. They use AI to create convincing emails, ads, and websites that impersonate legitimate brands or charities. They also use cryptocurrency to move stolen money quickly, which makes stolen funds difficult to recover once the money is gone.

This warning is especially timely because Christmas is this Thursday and gift cards will be widely given and redeemed. When checking a gift card balance, always use the official website or phone number printed on the card or listed on the retailer’s site. Avoid links sent by email, text messages, or QR codes. If available, add a PIN or ZIP code to the card after purchase to help prevent unauthorized use.

While you’re with family or loved ones, take a moment to talk about these risks. A short conversation and a few extra checks can help prevent a holiday gift from turning into a costly mistake.

FOR PEERS

Featured Chrome Browser Extension Caught Intercepting Millions of Users' AI Chats. A featured Chrome extension with millions of users silently intercepted AI chatbot conversations after an auto-update, routing prompts and responses to external servers and sharing raw data with affiliated advertising and analytics partners.

What you need to know: Share this story with your peers and have conversations about what your organization is doing to manage browser extension risk, especially as AI tools become part of everyday work. This incident highlights how trusted marketplaces, auto-updates, and “featured” badges can create blind spots in security programs.

FOR EXECUTIVES

Uncle Sam sues ex-Accenture manager over Army cloud security claims. The U.S. Justice Department alleges a former Accenture manager misled federal auditors about cloud security controls, falsely claiming compliance with FedRAMP High and DoD requirements. The case highlights governance failures, misrepresentation risk, and the consequences of overstating security maturity.

What you need to know: The Justice Department alleges a former Accenture manager misrepresented the security posture of an Army cloud platform, claiming FedRAMP High and DoD Impact Level compliance despite known gaps in access controls, monitoring, and incident response. The platform was reportedly positioned for broader government use, putting multiple agencies at risk.

For executives, this story is a reminder that compliance frameworks only protect organizations when claims match reality. Share this with business leaders to reinforce the need for independent validation, accurate reporting, and a culture where security teams can say no without pressure. Governance failures are rarely technical. They start when risk signals are ignored at senior levels.

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As always, please send me feedback. Which tip above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a DM on X with #actionableintel in the subject so I can find it.

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Find more about what’s happening this week in the Simply Cyber community, below. Join us on the Daily Cyber Threat Brief happening every weekday morning at 8 AM Eastern on YouTube and LinkedIn.

Thank you and see you again next week, #TeamSC!

Gerry