How to Protect Yourself from Scams While Using Kindle

It didn’t take long for cyber criminals to get to our beloved Kindles. Authors of e-books are able to create hyperlinks to websites that they then include in their books. One of the newest ways for malicious software to get to you is from infected links within online novels you’ve purchased.

According to ZDNet, you are more likely to find malicious links through short, self-published books, rather than well-known publications.  And if you are getting your books through an actual Kindle device, you are in good shape as the Kindle browser itself is limited, and there wouldn’t be too much damage done from infected links. However, many people utilize the Kindle apps through their iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or PC. Clicking on an infected link could mean big problems for those users.

How can you protect yourself? Be careful of self-published books that could contain infected links. Don’t click on any of said links to be on the safe side, as these could not only give your device or computer lots of yucky malware, but they could try to lure you with online scams as well. As with everything, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Use extra caution if utilizing the Kindle app through your smartphone or computer.

Happy (safe) reading.

–Angela Skinner Mullen