With the holidays coming up, online shopping will too. Although its more convenient, there are some risks that we take by shopping using the internet. The days with the highest percent of suspected fraudulent e-commerce are all during the holiday season, with Cyber Monday leading at 26%. So let’s spread the cheer but not our personal data. Ighty Support has some tips to keep you safe this holiday season:
SSL Certification
Ensuring that your online retailer is providing a secure shopping experience is imperative. A Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption protects online transactions by keeping data confidential. Confirm that your retailer has this by looking for an “S” in the “http://” at the beginning of a URL on pages where you enter personal details. Also, keep an eye out for lock symbols and green color in the address bar before entering personal information.
Alerts
Identity Theft is especially prevalent during these times. Regularly check accounts for suspicious or strange purchases. You can also integrate multi-factor authentication for your accounts for added security to your accounts. Finally, make sure you’re signing up for alerts from your financial institutions so you stay notified about every transaction under your name.
Avoid Scams
Avoid opening emails from unknown or strange email addresses. Also, if there seems to be a deal that’s too good to be true, it probably is. Confirm company legitimacy with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) or by reading through their reviews. Never share any information with anyone online without establishing they’re reputable.
Ighty Support provides managed IT service to the DFW metroplex so you can worry a little less, and celebrate a little more.