Shopping Securely Online
Secure Online Shopping
One of the more beneficial side effects of the popularity of the Internet has been the access to online goods and services. Bricks-and-mortar businesses and cyber businesses (those that only exist online) have found the Internet as a great way to serve a public that seeks a more convenient society.
Online shopping has gotten so big that, according to CNN.com, Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) surpassed the biggest retail shopping day of the year (Black Friday) in online sales in 2010 by a whopping 31.1 percent. And compared to the previous year, online shopping on Cyber Monday was up 19.4 percent.
There’s no getting around it: Online shopping is big, and it’s here to stay. However, just as shoppers should stay safe while they’re walking through a mall parking lot, they should also take care while they’re shopping online. The dangers online are just as real and can be just as disastrous. Cybercrime is around every virtual corner on the Internet.
However, just as there are tips on how to stay safe while shopping in the real world, there are tips on how to securely shop online. There are several layers of protection online shoppers can use to make sure their information and computers stay safe.
Use antivirus software
One of the ways that cybercriminals look to take advantage of online shoppers is to trick them into downloading malware onto their computers. Some malware has nothing to do with the shopping experience. They may be interested in just infecting as many computers as they can with a computer virus, which may cause damage to a computer, but it doesn’t go beyond that.
More often than not, cybercriminals that use the online retail industry as a front are more interested in identity theft than online vandalism. Cybercriminals may look to deposit spyware programs onto a target’s computer, such as keylogging programs (which record form data typed into a Web site), or rootkits, which may open up a computer to allow more malware to be deposited.
Having a top quality subscription-based antivirus program is one way to stop this sort of intrusion. Good antivirus program should be able to alert a subscriber to any intrusion attempts, and if something gets through, it will be able to clean it up. Software like Norton 360 provides an excellent protection.
Keep software updated
Another important step to take in making a secure online shopping experience is to make sure all software is updated, especially operating system software. Operating system software, such as Windows 7 and Linux, is the base software in any computer that runs all of the other software and hardware on a computer.
However, no operating system software is perfect. And its these imperfections (known as vulnerabilities) that cybercriminals use to break into targeted computers. However, all software companies make sure their products are protected against all known threats, and offer their users free patches and upgrades to make sure their computers are protected.
Avoid social engineering
Sometimes, all the technical protection in the world isn’t enough to prevent a cyber attack. That’s because many cybercriminals depend upon the ignorance of many computer novices who use the Internet for e-commerce.
Social engineering is a term used to describe the act of tricking someone into giving up money or information, and is most commonly used in a digital situation. All the antivirus software in the world can’t prevent someone from being duped by a con artist (although some programs can alert users to sites that may be questionable).
Here are some ways to avoid being scammed while shopping online:
- Only shop on secure sites – Web site addresses that begin with “https” instead of just “http” have been granted security certificates by authorized security companies. This produces a one-channel line of communication between site and user, making it extremely difficult for a cybercriminal to break into the transaction.
- Use safe passwords – Making passwords difficult to guess makes a cybercriminal’s job a whole lot harder. Many of them are successful by just guessing at ones like “password,” “myname,” “login,” or many other overly simplistic words. The best passwords are a random jumble of capital letter, lower case letters, numbers, and punctuation. And, because there will never be a day when a cybercriminal will be able to see what’s written on a piece of paper in the drawer next to a computer, having a difficult password shouldn’t be a problem. Try our strong password generator.
- If it looks funny, it probably is – Use good judgment. If tons of ads begin to pop up, if the Web address has strange characters, or even if something just looks off or feels uncomfortable, don’t be afraid to shut down the browser and look somewhere else to shop.
- Keep private information private – Reputable companies will never, ever ask for a patron’s login or password information, nor will a retail company ever ask for a Social Security number.
With these tips in hand, online shopping will be a much safer experience for any computer user.