As you've probably already seen, there is a new craze taking the mobile world by storm - Pokémon Go. Here are some excerpts from a great article from our friends at KnowBe4:

It's a geocaching game, meaning it's tied to real-world locations. It's a smash hit sending people on the street, trying to catch virtual creatures in real-world locations -- called Pokestops -- that players can capture, train and trade. However, the game's rapid rollout and breakaway success has its risks. It's from Niantic, a Google spin-off that makes Ingress, which is a very popular multiplayer game, but Pokémon Go has immediately hit several security and privacy-related speed bumps, and not all of them are virtual.

There are issues, from personal safety (see linked article), to security issues (see same article) all the way to simply dealing with the loss of productivity for your employees. There will also be a whole new rash of scams and security concerns that pop-up over the next 90 days that you will want to pay attention to in order to protect yourself and your business.

In the mean time, read the linked article and also take their advice and send this (or something like it) to your employees:

You have probably heard about the new Pokémon app. It's going viral and sends people on the street to catch these little virtual creatures. There are some risks if you have the "gotta catch 'em all" fever. 

First, please stick to the vetted app stores, do not download the app from anywhere else. Why? Bad guys have taken the app and infected it with malware, and try to trick you downloading it from untrustworthy websites.

Second, anyone using the app, and especially kids should be VERY aware that they are not lured into a real-world trap which could lead to mugging or abduction. Other players can track you in the real world using this app so be careful.

Third, there are possible privacy issues if you use your Google account to log into the app. Create a throw-away account and use that to log into Pokémon, not your private or business account .

As always, Think Before You Click!

Here's the link to the full article on KnowBe4.com: https://blog.knowbe4.com/scam-of-the-week-pokémon-malware-muggings-and-other-mayhem