FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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A few rules to keep in mind for a secure online shopping experience

A few rules to keep in mind for a secure online shopping experience

FORTINET, the global leader in high-performance cybersecurity solutions, has warned consumers to be wary of cybercriminals when shopping online. The year-end holiday season is a big event for cybercriminals and they have previously employed a host of tactics.

Fake websites, financial data interception, charity scams, email phishing attacks, fake shopping sites, texting and SMS scams, and more are all designed to steal your personal and financial information.
So, in addition to making out your shopping lists and checking your credit card balances, you need to take precautions when doing your holiday shopping online. If done right, it can be a safe and convenient way to buy gifts. Follow a few simple rules:
l Watch what wireless network you connect to. Over the past few weeks, we have learned that WPA2, the encryption protocol used to protect data moving between a computer and the wireless device that connects it to the Internet, has been broken. Which means you may want to think twice about doing your online shopping using the public Wi-Fi at your local coffee shop. Public W-Fi sites are a haven for criminals looking to intercept your connection and to use it to steal your credit card information, passwords and other personal data.
l Practise safe surfing. There are a number of things you can do to protect yourself when shopping online:
l Make sure all your devices are updated and patched. Device manufacturers issue regular security updates designed to protect users from known threats. Sometimes people assume that their mobile device is more secure than their laptop, but that is simply no longer true today.
l Be careful when downloading new holiday apps, especially on Android phones, because our FortiGuard research labs are seeing a spike in infected or fake apps – especially those not downloaded from official app stores.
l Use your credit card instead of your debit card. Most credit cards have built-in fraud protection. Check with your bank or your card provider to learn more about the protections your card offers.
l Make sure your connection is secure. When you are about to make a purchase, look at the address bar of your browser and confirm that it starts with “https://” rather than “http://”, or look for a small lock icon on your browser. These mean that your transaction is protected.
l Consider using a VPN (virtual private network) service. There are a number of low cost/no cost services that will ensure that all your connections are always protected.
l Be careful when using unfamiliar sites. If you are shopping at an unfamiliar online store, you should pay extra attention:
l Don’t click on links in advertisements sent to your email or on websites unless you check them first. If you hover your mouse over a link, you should be able to see the URL. Look at it carefully. Is the name too long or does it contain lots of hyphens or numbers? Does it replace letters with numbers, such as “amaz0n.com”? It is best to never open an email or click on an attachment from someone you don’t know – especially when it includes an enticing subject line, such as a cash reward or a bill for something you didn’t purchase.
l Use your search engine to look for online reviews and ratings of an unknown or unfamiliar site before you shop there. Use words like “fraud” or “scam” in your search.
l Look at the website design. Does it look professional? Are the links accurate and fast? Are there lots of pop-ups, which is a bad sign?
l Read the text. Poor grammar, vague descriptions and misspelled words are all giveaways that a site is probably illegitimate.
l Be sceptical. Unusually low prices and high availability of hard-to-find items are red flags for scam sites. Sure there are some good deals out there, but people invented the phrase “too good to be true” for a reason.
l Make sure the online retailer uses a secure checkout system that accepts major credit cards. Avoid sites that require direct payments from your bank, wire transfers, or untraceable forms of payment.
“As our ability to purchase items, make online transactions, and connect to others through smart devices gets easier, we need to understand that these conveniences come with risks,” said Anthony Giandomenico, senior security strategist, Fortinet. 
“Cybercriminals are determined and informed on the latest trends and how to exploit them. That’s why we need to take the time to educate ourselves – and our friends and family – about shopping safely so that we can have a truly happy holiday season.”
 

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